A River Amongst the Stars
by Kanna37
Summary: Have you ever seen a shooting star? Well, seen one or not, I'm sure you know what they are – stars that have fallen to earth and died. But have you heard the story of the earthly star that ascended to the heavens to live, instead? No? Then sit back and listen to the story of the constellation Eridanus, the river of heaven, and how it gained a spirit of its own.
1. Chapter 1

Lucy grinned at the playful catcalls and cheerful hello's as she walked into Fairy Tail, and waved to everyone on her way to the jobs board. It was time she began looking for a well-paying mission or two so that she could make her rent by the due date. And since she had business to attend outside of Magnolia, as well, she needed to start looking for a good job now, even though she'd just paid this month's rent.

She spent a few minutes looking through the different postings. There were some possibilities, though nothing that really tickled her fancy and was in the right direction. But finally she came across one that was half-buried under newer listings, and as soon as she'd read over it a pleased smile crossed her face and she spun around to head to the bar and let Mira know which job she was taking.

"Good morning, Lucy!" Mirajane smiled brightly at her, before pulling out the jobs ledger to take note of which posting the blonde had chosen. "That time again, eh?" She read over the information on the job, and when she saw the reward amount, her brow lifted. "Oh, wow! That should be enough to pay your rent for several months. It'll be nice not to have to worry about it for a while, right?"

She laughed. "Yeah, that's for sure. Hey, have you seen Natsu? Or maybe Gray or Erza? I wanted to let them know that I'll be gone."

Mira blinked, then looked a little uneasy, though Lucy had no idea why. Before she could ask what was wrong, the barmaid said, "I haven't seen Gray or Erza so far today, but Natsu went on a job with... with Lisanna for four or five days. They left early this morning."

"Oh," she responded blankly, then shrugged. "Okay. Well, when you see Erza or Gray, could you let them know for me, then?"

"Sure thing!" the blue-eyed woman replied. "You want me to tell them that you'll be back in-" she glanced at the job listing, "-two weeks or so?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, actually I won't be back for about three weeks. I have some... personal business to take care of on my way home, and I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish that. But if you could make sure the rest of the team knows so they don't freak out, I'd appreciate it."

"Is everything okay?" Mira asked, concerned. For just a moment, there had been _something_ in the younger girl's tone...

At that question, the blonde just laughed. "Of course! No worries, everything's perfectly fine. Well," she said, "I'd better get going so I can get my gear from my apartment and make the train. See you, Mira!" she waved as she turned and headed for the doors.

"Take care, Lucy!" the eldest Strauss sister replied, and her voice was echoed by some of the others as the celestial mage called her goodbyes cheerfully back.

Mirajane watched the girl disappear through the doors with a slight frown. "I thought she'd be upset that Natsu went off with Lisanna, but she didn't react at all," she murmured to herself as she went back to tending her bar. "Maybe she really _doesn't_ have those kinds of feelings for him."

~~LoLu~~

Whistling rather cheerfully, Lucy locked her apartment door after making sure her window was also closed and locked so no one (read Natsu) could sneak in while she was gone. Throwing her pack over her shoulder and making sure her precious keys were firmly attached to her belt, she headed off towards the train station.

It was a beautiful day, warm, clear skies of a gorgeous blue with a white, puffy cloud passing by every so often, and occasionally a light, cool breeze, as well. All around, an auspicious day to start a journey, or so it seemed.

If only she'd known what was coming...

It didn't take long to reach the station even with the busy streets, and within fifteen minutes she was boarding her train and settling in for the three days it would take to arrive in the town where the job was. She took the listing out of her bag and looked it over again out of curiosity. It wouldn't be a very difficult job, unless the listing was deliberately misleading. The client, one Elias Sevrence, wanted something of his found. Apparently, whatever the object was had been stolen from him, and while the guilty party had already been apprehended, his property had never been recovered. All the clue the thief gave to its location was a complicated riddle of some sort, which the client would reveal once she arrived.

So far, no one that had attempted to complete the request had succeeded.

But she had always been very good at riddles, and she had high hopes that she'd be able to figure this one out, as well. Glancing back down at the listing, she couldn't help but wonder just what the stolen object was, for the client to be willing to pay so highly for its return.

After a little more thought she put the paper back in her bag and stretched. The train had pulled out of the station a few minutes before, and she finally looked around at her little sleeper. _Small, but clean and neat_ , she nodded to herself. It would do. Then she chuckled. _I'm glad Natsu's_ _not_ _here. Three days stuck on a train with him... Ugh._ She shuddered. Better Lisanna than her!

Settling her small bag under the little bed, Lucy decided to go take a seat in one of the regular cars. She just felt like watching out the windows as she let her mind wander wherever it wanted.

Thoughts of Lisanna and Natsu brought her mind back to her earlier conversation with Mira, and her odd expression when she'd mentioned that the two had gone off on a job. She couldn't help but wonder what had been up with that. _Was she worried that I'd be mad that he went on a job without me? Or was it... something else? Could she have really thought I'd be... jealous?_

While strange, Lucy couldn't dismiss the possibility that Mira might have been under the impression that she had a thing for Natsu. They _were_ pretty close _,_ but honestly, it was just as nakama. One of the closest of her friends, like a brother. She trusted him with her life. But she wasn't in love with him, and he wasn't in love with her. No... she was in love with a far different man – and one who, just like Natsu, wasn't in love with her. Not really. Sure he flirted, but he flirted with every girl, not just her. She sighed.

Slipping into the second to last train car she smiled a little, pleased when she found it almost empty, and after looking around for a moment she chose a seat at the very back. Then she made herself as comfortable as possible, and turned to stare absently at the passing scenery.

She knew Loke cared for her. But she wanted so much more, and sometimes it was really hard to call him out of the spirit world, even when she was in danger. He would inevitably flirt, and it hurt when he did because it wasn't real. Sometimes she'd get upset and her thoughts would go dark, and in those moments she was almost ready to believe that he was doing it on purpose, teasing her with what she could never really have. She knew better, though. He wasn't like that, and truthfully, if he knew how she felt he'd stop flirting immediately so as not to hurt her feelings any further.

Lucy was pretty sure that he didn't have the first clue about how she truly felt for him, though. She'd managed to hide it pretty well, after all – even Mirajane, Fairy Tail's own Miss Matchmaker herself hadn't figured it out, apparently believing she had feelings for Natsu. No one knew the truth, or she was positive she'd have heard rumors about it by now, and she hadn't even told Levy. It was just too painful to share with anyone else, and she didn't want news of her feelings to somehow get back to Loke. That would not only be humiliating, but would make him feel guilty that he didn't love her back, and she didn't want that. You can't help who you love and who you don't, it was as simple as that.

With another disheartened sigh, she decided to stop thinking about that matter and concentrate on something else. It was just too nice a day to waste on getting depressed – she could do that another time.

~~LoLu~~

It was just after breakfast on the second day out that trouble found her.

Well, to be precise trouble found the train, not her specifically, but since she was on it she was caught up in the mess as much as anyone else. It was just fortunate for her that she had been in the restroom when the train was attacked. The two men she could hear come through from the caboose missed her as they headed to the next car, forcing the only other person who'd been in the car with her besides the conductor to go with them. As soon as she heard the shouting going on through the rather thin wall and realized what was happening, she growled inwardly; she'd have to call her lion out, and maybe Gemini, too.

As soon as it got quiet she cracked open the door and peered out, just to make sure there wasn't anyone else there. _Now to call for Loke..._

However, before she could even touch his key the spirit appeared in a burst of radiance by her side, already holding his arm up and charging his magic. "What's wrong, Lucy?" he asked hurriedly, looking her over carefully to make sure that she was okay when he realized that she wasn't already under attack, though he didn't let his guard – or his arm - down. He could literally _feel_ her anxiety.

"How did you know something was wrong?" she asked, momentarily diverted from what was going on by that question.

"I felt your sudden tension. Now, what's up?"

"The train's under attack. Bandits. Two already came through here, but I'm sure there are more. They probably entered the train closer towards the engine," she reported quickly. "They forced the man who was in this car and the conductor to go with them, but fortunately for me I was in the ladies room when they showed up, so they didn't know about me."

Loke's eyes narrowed. "If there were only two that came this way, then there's definitely more somewhere else. No one's stupid enough to rob a train like this with only two people. Summon Gemini, then follow behind the ones that passed through here. Try to free the other passengers if you can. I'll go take out the rest of the bandits before they can do any real damage."

She nodded solemnly, not at all put out that he was basically giving her orders, then met his eyes. "Be careful," was all she said. She knew he could take care of himself, but that didn't stop her from worrying. It was part and parcel of caring for someone, after all.

Gaze softening, Loke reached out and touched her cheek affectionately, his eyes smiling at her through his blue shades. "I will. And you... don't do anything crazy and get yourself hurt, because then I'd have to kill whoever did it."

With an inclination of acknowledgment from her he vanished, and she quickly pulled out Gemini's key and summoned them, ignoring the pang in her heart at the softness he'd looked at her with. There would be time enough later to wallow in her heartache – after the train had been saved. She told the twins what was happening and what Loke had told her to do, and the two transformed into her without even having to be asked.

"You can count on us!" the now-combined and transformed Gemi and Mini exclaimed with an excited grin.

Returning theirs with a tight one of her own, Lucy turned and headed for the door into the next car, moving quietly but quickly, Gemini right behind her.

That car was empty, as was the next, but the closer to the front of the train they got without spotting anyone the more cautious she became. While not full to capacity by any means, the train still had a good amount of people aboard, so they would have to have been stashed somewhere that was big enough to hold them all. She actually hoped that they'd been put in several cars, simply because she wouldn't be able to move around enough to fight if it was too crowded, and she didn't want any of the innocent passengers to be hurt.

Finally, three cars in, Lucy heard the murmurs and frightened cries of some of the other people aboard, and just peeked her head up enough to see through the window in the door so she could take stock of what the situation in the car ahead was. It looked like there was one bandit with a weapon of some sort keeping about a third of the passengers hostage, which meant that she'd been lucky – her hopes that they would all be split up had at least partially panned out.

"This is what I need you to do," she told her look-alike, keeping her voice soft. "I'll go in first and fast and take on the guy in this car. You run straight past as soon as I engage him and through to the next car, and try to take out whoever is in that one with the other passengers, okay? If they aren't in the next car, keep going 'til you find them, but be careful."

"Sure thing, piri piri."

Just then she heard a muffled explosion from somewhere up ahead, telling her that Loke had caught up with some of the other bad guys and was now fighting them. Before the bastard in the car ahead of her could try to find out what was going on, she slid open the door and immediately attacked him with her whip as Gemini raced through that car and into the next one.

It took less than a minute for Lucy to have her opponent tripped up due to the surprise of the swift attack, and the other passengers cheered as she immobilized him. She looked up with a smile. "Someone have something he can be tied up with?"

A man in a conductor's uniform replied in the affirmative and reached up to one of the overhead compartments, taking out a length of rope, which he then used to tie the cursing bandit up. When she was sure he was unable to move Lucy unwound her whip from around him, and grinned at the uniformed man.

"Thanks! If you don't mind keeping an eye on him, I have to go help my friends get the rest of the creeps."

"Not at all, ma'am," the man winked with a smile. "Good luck!"

"Thanks again," she replied with a small wave as she hurried off, following on Gemini's trail.

~~LoLu~~

Gemini was in the next car, but they weren't doing quite as well as she had, because there were two bandits and more passengers to try to fight around and defend. The two men had the transformed twins backed into a corner, but when she burst in and immediately attacked, drawing one of them away, her twin was able to beat the one that was left with relative ease.

Within a few minutes they had those two bandits defeated and tied up, and the damage was minimal – Gemini hadn't been hurt at all, but Lucy had a long, though shallow cut from wrist to elbow that she got from being sliced when her opponent had drawn a hidden knife on her. It was bleeding sluggishly but was already starting to clot up, so she dismissed it as unimportant for the moment and went on, looking for Loke.

It suddenly _became_ important when they found him. The next car had been empty, and they'd quickly moved on into the one after that, which was where her lion was fighting what turned out to be the rest of the band of criminals, at least one of which appeared to be a mage.

As soon as she and Gemini burst in, the five bandits still standing turned to stare – most in surprise at her and her celestial double – but the moment Loke saw the blood dripping down her arm, the fight was _over_. He used his weakest attack, which knocked them all out and even overwhelmed the wizard, and was by her side before most of them even hit the floor.

"What did they do to you?" he snarled as he took her arm and looked it over, being careful and tender with her even while being so terribly angry.

Lucy's heart panged again, but she ruthlessly shoved the feeling aside. She couldn't afford to give away her heartache, especially right in front of the unknowing cause of it.

"It's fine," she said as soon as she felt like she could speak without her voice wavering. She put on a bright smile. "It's not very deep, and I'll see about getting it cleaned and wrapped as soon as we get these guys-" she gestured over her shoulder at the seven men laid out around the car with her other arm, "-restrained."

Loke glared malevolently at the bandits, muttering unholy things Lucy was pretty sure she was glad she couldn't hear, and refused to relinquish her arm until he'd inspected each centimeter of the cut to make certain she wouldn't make it worse by using the limb. When he had assured himself that she wouldn't be dying because of it anytime in the next ten years or so, he relented and released her.

"Bastards," he grumbled under his breath. "Do we have anything to tie them up with?" he asked after a moment. "I want to get that cut taken care of as soon as possible." _And then I'm going to find out which one of those punks did this to her and teach them a sorely-needed lesson._ His fingers twitched, and he had to force them not to curl into fists at the thought.

Lucy nodded and went to the overhead storage areas as she'd seen the conductor do and opened one up, rummaging around until she found more carefully coiled ropes. She tossed a length to Loke as well as Gemini, and they tied the men up individually and then all together to discourage any escape attempts.

Once that was done, Loke ordered Gemini back through their gate and practically dragged her to the car where the conductors were trying to get the passengers calmed down and resettled.

The first one he saw he peremptorily ordered to get water, antibacterial ointment, and bandages so he could tend to her wound without further delay. The conductor hurried to obey with an odd look at the immaculately clad, ginger-haired man, but when he returned with the requested items and offered to clean and bind the injury the lion curtly denied him. He had no intentions of letting anyone else take care of his mistress save for _him_.

Though somewhat taken aback at his rather possessive behavior, Lucy could see that protesting would accomplish nothing, and so docilely allowed him to tend her. He was extremely gentle, taking his time and being more than thorough, and every time she would wince or make a pained noise he'd start muttering curses again. By the time he was done he was tight-lipped and far more upset about the relatively minor injury than she was.

"So... where's the rest of your team?" he asked, once he'd calmed down a little as they sat together quietly.

Lucy blinked, then shrugged. "Gray and Erza weren't at the guild when I went in and Mira didn't know where they were, and Natsu was already on a job with Lisanna and wouldn't be back for five days or so. I needed to take a job then, so I couldn't wait around."

"Do you mean to tell me," Loke began angrily as his fists clenched yet again and began to glow slightly with his frustrated fury, "that Natsu went on a job without you? He took Lisanna instead? That bastard... _you're_ his teammate! I'm going to kick his ass for leaving you alone like that!" He grabbed the startled girl and pulled her into an embrace. "I'm sorry, Lucy," he whispered painfully. "I know you like him, and-"

The young woman squawked and pulled away from her spirit's firm, muscular chest - _no, bad Lucy! -_ with an indignant glare. "Wait, you think I like Natsu, too?" she snapped. "Sheesh, I can't believe it!"

The lion just stared at her for a moment, nonplussed. Then he said, "Wait a minute – are you trying to tell me you _aren't_ in love with that ashes-for-brains? … And who else thinks you are?" he tacked on belatedly.

"No!" she burst out, starting to get really annoyed. "Gods, what is it about our _friendship_ -" she deliberately emphasized the word, "-that makes people think I have feelings beyond that for Natsu?" Then she scowled belligerently up at him. "And since when do I _have_ to take other people on jobs with me? I'm not helpless, you know! I can do things by myself!"

Loke's face gentled at her words, and he smiled at her. _Oh, Lucy..._ "I know that, Princess. You're one of the strongest, most determined people I've ever known. That doesn't mean I don't worry. I always want you to be safe. That's what happens when you care about someone, right?"

Hearing her earlier thoughts on just that tossed back at her by the same person she was thinking them in regards to just about broke her heart right then and there. Because there was simply no way he felt them in the same way she did. He was worried for her as a friend and as his mage and nothing more, and she meant it in a far deeper way. _Unrequited love sucks_ , she thought, suddenly miserable.

"Yeah," she replied flatly, looking away defeatedly, "I guess."

Loke frowned in concern at her sudden downturn in mood. "Lucy, what's wrong?"

She shook her head with a brittle laugh. "Oh, nothing. It was just what you said – it reminded me of something else, that's all."

Unhappy as he was with that lack of answer to his question, he could see that pushing her wouldn't accomplish anything except to upset her further, so instead he reiterated one of his earlier ones. "You never did say who else thought you had a thing for Natsu," he prompted softly.

The blonde harrumphed at that, disgruntled. "Mirajane, apparently. She thought I'd be upset when she told me about him going off with Lisanna for a few days. She seemed really surprised when I wasn't."

"Mira, huh?" he mused. "Well, she's usually right about things like that. I always kind of thought it was some weird part of her magic or something," he chuckled faintly as he looked down at his hands. "So I would say she probably _was_ really surprised that you don't have a thing for the flame-brain." He paused, then hesitantly admitted, "I can't say it upsets me... you know, to hear that you aren't in love with Natsu. I'm... actually quite relieved."

"Wha-" Lucy began, startled by his quietly-spoken words, but before she could finish one of the conductors came back in and interrupted their conversation.

"Pardon me, ma'am, sir," he said respectfully, "but we need to know if you want us to put the men you tied up in the other cars with the seven in the front car?"

Loke stood up, absently readjusting his suit jacket. _Now's my chance to get my hands on the one that hurt her._ "I'll help. It would be easier to have them all in one place." With one last, enigmatic glance at Lucy, he followed the conductor into the next car, leaving her confused and alone with her thoughts – and her pounding heart.

 _What was that?_


	2. Chapter 2

~LoLu~

 **Chapter 2**

~LoLu~

Blowing her bangs out of her eyes irritably, Lucy stared down the tracks as she waited for her train to reach the station. It was time to see to that personal business she'd mentioned to Mira, though she wasn't really looking forward to it. But there was no choice - she had a meeting with her family's lawyer to attend, though why exactly he was contacting her now she wasn't certain. Since she couldn't get out of meeting with him, she was personally hoping he'd finally found a buyer for the estate. While she herself could never live there again after the mostly terrible childhood she'd survived under its roof, she didn't want to see it simply rot away.

She'd successfully completed the job she'd taken on through the guild's auspices, finding the client's property pretty handily, if she did say so herself. It had taken her about a week and a half to track the item in question through the fairly difficult riddle the thief had left behind and which had led all over the countryside, but she'd done it. And with no Natsu along to make a mess of things, she'd been paid in full and with many smiles and compliments from a very satisfied client. On top of that, she'd made even more money from her capture of the train bandits than she'd been paid on the actual job, so she wouldn't be forced to take on work for rent or any other necessities for months to come if she didn't want to.

Under normal circumstances, the completion of her job and the doubly huge payday due to her capture of the train robbers would have had her in high spirits – but not this time.

There were two different reasons for that. For one, she still had the lawyer to deal with before she could head home, which was always a stressful thing, and for two... well, Loke was the cause of the rest of her sadness, though it wasn't his fault.

The man might be a playboy and an over-the-top flirt, but he was also a lot of other things – intelligent, honorable, sweet, loyal, powerful, and so gentle and affectionate with those he cared for. He was also one of the most handsome men _she'd_ ever seen. Well-built and lithe, with an inhuman grace, gorgeous face and compelling hazel eyes, and a soft, ginger mane of hair that was as untamed as any lion's, Loke was all that any woman could ask for. She was altogether aware by now of _exactly_ why he was so popular with the ladies, and it was getting harder and harder for her to hide from her seemingly ever-growing feelings for the sophisticated and accomplished spirit that just so happened to call her mistress.

Frustrated at her inability to stop thinking about him, she sighed impatiently and propped her head in her hand as she waited for the arrival announcement of her train, wishing she could convince her damned, stubborn heart that loving Loke was a very _bad_ idea. He was used to being surrounded and feted by the most beautiful women, mages and non alike. What could _she_ offer him that he couldn't get from someone better?

Nothing. She was not unattractive and she knew that, but she still wasn't anywhere near as beautiful a woman as he could expect to have, and there was no denying it, no matter how much she might wish otherwise.

Perhaps she just needed to sit down in front of her mirror when she got home and have a very long talk with herself about leagues, and what was _out_ of hers. Namely the spirit of the lion.

The announcement for her train finally came, and Lucy got up and scuttled onto the platform quickly, not really in the mood to be stuck waiting politely at the back for the rest of the passengers to board first. It was all those bandit's faults - she'd been happy enough on the trip out... until they'd attacked the train and Loke had shown up on his own because he'd sensed her disquiet. She'd been mostly out-of-sorts since then. His odd declaration and the strange, unreadable look he'd given her before heading off to help gather the bandits into one place hadn't helped matters any, either. They'd just been the reason she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since.

Those very depressing thoughts only contributed to a further downturn in her rather uncertain temper, and Lucy headed immediately for her tiny sleeper, not wanting to deal with people of any sort.

Maybe she should just take a sleeping draught and go to bed now. Sleeping through most of the seventeen hours or so until her next stop sounded perfect, and that should keep her from thinking about a certain someone for a while, too.

Just what the doctor ordered.

~LoLu~

A day later found Lucy sitting in the lawyer's office, rubbing a hand over the scowl beginning to form between her brows. She'd been waiting for over an hour already, and she was about ready to just push her way into the inner office. He'd seen several people that had arrived after her, and _she'd_ had an appointment.

 _Really! I may not be some high-paying client of his anymore, but he contacted me! He's still being paid for his time, and this is just beyond rude. Hmph._

At this rate, by the time she made it home to Magnolia she'd be feeling distinctly homicidal... and Natsu better hope he hadn't found a way to get into her apartment, or he'd end up being her first victim.

 _And I was in such a good mood when this trip started, too. Ugh. Why do things always have to go downhill?_

"Miss Heartfilia, Mr. Nilson will see you now," came the superior voice of the secretary, and she shot her a hard glare out of cold eyes. She may have turned her back on the high-class life she'd been raised in, but that didn't mean she couldn't pull haughty out of her hat if she needed it, and this rather boorish woman was really asking for it.

When the older woman suddenly gulped and her manner became a great deal more submissive, Lucy sniffed and stood up, sweeping past the now-cringing female dismissively. _Ha! I still have it... even if I don't use it much._ That little silent confrontation had managed to _slightly_ ease the belligerent feeling that had been eating at her since arriving in the office and being forced to wait well-past her appointment time, and she was able to meet Mr. Nilson's beady eyes with a tad more calmness than would otherwise have been possible.

For about five seconds – until the man started talking.

"Heartfilia," he began with a sort of supercilious condescension that drove her ire through the roof, "take a seat and I will get to the point of this visit."

She turned her now-frigid gaze on him unblinkingly, but before she could say anything, a sparkling in the air next to her had her inwardly cringing, because here came Loke – and a Loke who _didn't_ look to be very happy at the current moment.

"Is this... _man_ -" the word was accompanied by obvious sarcasm and a narrow-eyed, disdainful stare, "-upsetting you, Princess?"

Discomfited by the sudden appearance, Mr. Nilson still tried to be intimidating. "I don't know who you are, young man," he blustered, "but this is a private meeting with a client. You need to disappear back to wherever you came from."

Lucy drew herself up angrily. How dare he talk to her lion like that? "This private _meeting_ -" she emphasized the word sharply, "-was requested by you, Mr. Nilson, and yet I've been the one kept waiting. My patience has already been fully tested by your rude behavior towards me, but I will _not_ stand for your treatment of Loke. He has more class and manners in his fingertips than you have in your whole body. Now, if you have some legitimate business to discuss with me, I suggest you get to it, or I will take my leave and charge _you_ a fee for wasting my time."

She could hear the very faint choking sound that came from the stellar lion's throat, and she couldn't quite contain the slightly smug feeling that it brought along with it. She was no pushover to be intimidated by the likes of a petty brown-noser such as Nilson - or anyone else, for that matter. She couldn't help but preen a little, however, when the spirit was unable to completely hide the fact that he was impressed from her. Although the overweight, petty little man behind the desk cringing visibly at her tone might have had something to do with her sense of satisfaction, too. What could she say? Occasionally bullying the bullies back felt pretty good.

"Of... of course, Heartfilia," Mr. Nilson stammered weakly. "I reques-"

"You will address her as _Lady_ Heartfilia," Loke broke in with a dangerously soft voice and icy eyes, "as her station demands, or you will regret it." _Don't push me, you rat..._

Now it was Lucy's turn to be impressed... though really, his ability to speak in so imperious a manner wasn't all that surprising, now that she thought about it. After all, he was much, much older than any human, and he had rubbed elbows with kings and queens as much as beggars and thieves in his lifetime. Hell, plainly stating the matter, he could be considered a lord in his own right. In the stellar realm, his orders were second only to Seirei-o himself, and he was the leader of the Zodiac, some of the most powerful spirits in the celestial world.

 _He's of much higher status than that jerk, that's for sure. Loke would never treat someone like the dirt beneath his shoes, though. Well, _she was forced to revise her opinion just a little, as the unfriendly glare he was subjecting the now-definitely intimidated, insignificant little worm to sharpened, _not unless they really deserved it. I guess he thinks Nilson deserves it._

Unfortunately, she couldn't help the warm feeling his verbal defense of her brought, and she wished again that she could stop herself from loving him. Once he went back through his gate she would only miss him all the more, because no matter how often he came around it was never enough for her, and it never would be. She just craved his presence, even if she knew it was a bad idea.

 _Damn it, stop! Think about this later, when Loke's not standing right next to you. You've got business to discuss now, anyway._

She forced her mind back to the matter at hand just as Nilson swallowed hard and squeaked, "Lady Heartfilia, yes, yes, my apologies," hurriedly.

The lion's tension eased a little – just a little – at the other man's obedience, and he turned towards her with a charming smile that contained no flirtatiousness whatsoever and assisted her to take a seat like a gentleman would have. Once she was comfortable he took the chair right next to her and inclined his head rather regally at the now-simpering bootlicker.

"Remember your manners when speaking to my Lady," he cautioned in a dire tone before verbally stepping back for Lucy to take over. _Or else, you stupid little jackass._

Nilson cringed visibly at the unspoken yet very clear threat, but still glanced at the young celestial mage questioningly.

"You may speak freely," she answered the look with cool hauteur. She was a little confused, though, at the faintly pleased feeling that came from Loke as she said it.

"Your name, sir?" the lawyer murmured meekly enough.

"You may call me Loke Lionheart," the ginger-haired spirit answered carelessly. _Although_ _I'd_ _prefer it if you didn't call me anything at all, honestly. What a perfect toad this guy is._

His tone was even now and gave nothing of his thoughts away to the other two in the room, though Lucy could still tell that he was happy about _something_.

She wasn't given the time to ponder the matter, however.

"Ah, yes, well," Nilson cleared his throat, "the matter in question is in regards the estate, Lady Heartfilia. I have found a prospective buyer, but I need your permission to proceed."

Lucy remained silent for a minute or so as she contemplated that.

"If you would give me the details, then," she finally said, "I will make a decision."

Despite the fact that this was exactly what she'd been hoping for, she couldn't help the pang that went through her. It would be hard in some ways to let her childhood home go, but it was the best decision all around. She couldn't afford to keep it up herself on what she made as a mage, and even if she could, she wouldn't be able to live there and keep working for Fairy Tail, anyway. It just wasn't close enough to Magnolia. Not to mention, this would give her a more than tidy sum to put away in her savings, and that was always a good thing.

And as she'd thought before, in regards her peace of mind she herself would never be able to live there again – there were just too many painful memories for her ever to be happy returning.

She shot her knight-in-a-sleek-suit a grateful glance when he reached out and squeezed her hand, giving her his support.

 _I know that I'll only feel his absence all the more later, but right now I'm glad he's here. I... need him._

"Thanks, Loke," she murmured, and he gave her a warm smile.

"My pleasure, Princess."

~LoLu~

By the time she was finished finalizing the details with the lawyer it was getting on into evening, and Lucy decided it would just be easier for her to stay at an inn for the night and catch the train the rest of the way home in the morning. Loke accompanied her to make sure she arrived safely and got all checked in without hassle.

It took a little convincing for her to get him to go home afterward, but after she finally managed to she slid a light sweater on and headed out to visit her parent's graves. Though she was grateful for his unswerving support throughout the earlier meeting with Nilson, she was feeling too peckish and sad to want any company in this, even his.

When she reached the estate boundaries she stopped for a little while on a hill and looked out over the vast lands that she'd grown up the heiress to, memories chasing each other like caliginous phantoms behind a veiled gaze. _I'm moving completely on into my new life and leaving behind the rest of the old. Feeling nostalgic and sad is normal at a time like this. Even so... it's necessary to let go, despite the fact that it hurts._

The past was gone, and it was finally time to fully close that door.

She brushed a stray lock of blonde hair back behind her ear as the sweetly-scented evening breeze toyed with the silky strands, her eyes straying from the rose gardens where her mother had spent many a day instructing the gardeners, to the huge fountain she'd so enjoyed splashing around in as a child on hot summer days. Then her eyes traced the long drive from the gates to the manor, remembering later years, after her mother's death and before she'd run away, when her father had subjected her to boring balls with mostly horrifying potential suitors. How she'd hated those so-called parties...

Then there were the box hedges, a maze-like garden of them that she'd hidden away in often after her mother's passing. They'd been her only peaceful place to go when she'd wanted to escape the confines of her beautiful prison in the only way she could – through books. Those stories had soared, and her imagination had soared with them even as her body was trapped and burdened by the chains of wealth and expectation.

That was when she'd first begun writing, and though those early attempts hadn't been very good they had served their purpose, which was to breathe life into her dreams by making her want to do _better_ the next one she wrote. And indeed, each time she'd challenged herself by writing just one more story, she'd improved and her dream of being a writer had come that much closer to being possible.

Finally, her gaze landed on another hill in the distance, and her eyes stung a little. With no trees or anything besides grass and a few flowers, it had been a perfect place to stargaze. Every night for as far into the past as she could remember, until the day she'd finally left, she'd laid out on that hill and watched the stars, and wondered if they were watching her back. First with her mother and then later with Aquarius or alone, it hadn't mattered, because she'd never felt alone when she was under the steady gaze of the heavens, and the stars and constellations had nearly been her only company for most of those otherwise lonely and empty years.

Maybe she'd been cursed to fall in love with something as untouchable as the stars for daring to look upon their warmth and beauty and covet it. _Oh, but who wouldn't?_ The plaintive thought ripped a painful-sounding laugh from her, and her eyes were shadowed and remote.

 _Loke..._

He was the most beautiful of them all – and the most untouchable for a plain little mortal girl like her.

Exhaling heavily, Lucy turned from the golden view before her and began making her way to her parent's graves – there wasn't much time left until sunset, and she needed to visit them before it got too late.

She never made it, falling into darkness between one breath and the next.

~LoLu~

In the celestial realm, Loke shivered as an odd, foreboding feeling ran through him. Something was wrong...

But what?

He frowned as that oily, nausea-inducing feeling faded, only to sweep over him again a little stronger. His instincts were absolutely screaming at him, yet despite that, he couldn't actually _sense_ anything wrong. Everything in the celestial realm seemed just as usual.

 _The celestial realm._..

Suddenly his breath choked off in his chest with panic and he disappeared from that place after forcing his gate open. And as soon as he materialized in Earthland, he knew that something was indeed very wrong, because Lucy wasn't Lucy any longer - there was no recognition whatsoever in the empty, soulless gaze she turned on him.

It was like she was nothing but a puppet.

He was so stunned and dismayed that he barely managed to get out of the way as she snapped her whip at him in an immediate attack. Loke danced back on light feet, took a good though quick look around, and then vanished – he was going to need reinforcements, and his fellow Fairy Tail mages were the only ones he'd trust when the chips were down and the stakes so very high.

" _You'd better come back to me, no matter what!"_

She'd said that to him, once. He'd never forgotten it, and he never would.

 _Likewise, Lucy. You'd better find your way back to me, no matter what!_

As for whoever was responsible for stealing her away in the first place?

Loke was going to disassemble them right down to the ground.

~LoLu~

"I believe what you are describing is a magic called Marionette. It's forbidden by _all_ laws because of its very nature," Master Makarov said, his face and voice grim as he looked around the eerily silent guildhall for a moment before meeting Loke's very unhappy gaze. "Her soul is still there, but the link that normally exists between a person's mind and soul has been severed. She may as well be trapped in permanent darkness with no control of her body at all – and no knowledge of what's even happening to her."

The stellar lion nearly put a fist through the bar in frustration as he remembered his impression of her empty eyes and how she'd seemed a mere puppet. He didn't doubt that Makarov was right. "So how do we get her mind and soul to reconnect?"

Makarov shook his head. "Do you know what the link between a person's mind and their soul even _is_?" he murmured.

Loke's jaw worked hard for a moment as he tried to keep from snapping at the guild-master. Every minute they sat there Lucy was in a madman's grasp, and he was very near the edge of his control. If something wasn't done soon, he was going to lose his mind.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. A human's mind is connected to their soul through their heart," he finally managed to say fairly evenly, though his thoughts weren't quite so tamed.

 _I may be a celestial spirit and not human, but I'm also not stupid, and I've been around for a hell of a lot longer than you. Just get on with the explanation – there's no time to waste!_

"So what's it matter?" Natsu shouted angrily, slamming a clenched and burning fist into a table and snapping it in half. "Why are we just standin' around here yapping? We should be saving Lucy, not talking about doing it!"

Loke momentarily wished he had the freedom to respond in such a simple manner to the matter as the dragon slayer, but he didn't. He had to keep his head, because in the end it was his responsibility to save her, not anyone else's, and he couldn't afford to go off half-cocked. It was part of his contract with her, a contract that had been signed and sealed by Seirei-o himself, though it wouldn't have mattered to him if it weren't – he would still be the one to rescue her. The truth was, gratitude, duty, and responsibility towards the young woman didn't actually play any part in it for him at all.

They never had.

"Sit down and shut up, flame-brain," Gray snapped at his teammate. "We can't just go in there without knowing what we're facing. How do you think you're gonna save her if you don't even know what will?"

Natsu snarled at the other teen, but yet another voice broke in, and everyone fell silent and listened. When Titania spoke, you did - or you paid the price.

"How is it that 'Marionette' causes what you're describing, Master?"

Makarov sighed, and his face suddenly looked even more lined than usual. "At it's most basic, Marionette is a... hybrid spell, I suppose you could say. It's a possession-type magic mixed with human-manipulation type. It uses darkness-based energy to control her body and keep her consciousness actually asleep rather than just suppressed, as it would be with a simple possession magic. It's very _powerful_ , but it's also complex and it has its weaknesses, one of which is that the mage using it has to stay relatively close to maintain control of the victim, otherwise they will simply collapse to the ground and not move at all."

"While interesting, none of that actually tells us how to cast this magic out," Loke said tensely; the more time they spent sitting around talking about the matter, the edgier he was becoming.

"You can't."

The words fell like shards of glass into the abrupt, echoing silence.

"What do you mean, we can't?" the lion snarled, his voice guttural and thick. He was so infuriated by what had just been said that he didn't even realize he'd dug suddenly razor sharp claws into the wood of the bar - until the sound of him ripping them slowly through it reached his ears.

"Marionette can't be 'cast out' like normal possession magic. You must defeat the mage controlling Lucy, and then somehow _dissipate_ the darkness inside her. After that, the rest is up to her. Only _she_ can find her heart and regain control of herself."

 _Dissipate the darkness..._ Loke wondered why that sounded familiar. _Dissipate... hmm._ He absently flexed his fingers, and the wood beneath his claws shredded more.

"Wait a minute. If we defeat the mage, then any light-based power should be able to chase out the dark magic inside her, right?" Gray questioned.

"Theoretically speaking, yes..." Makarov allowed slowly.

"Well, would Loke's Regulus magic work?"

"Absolutely not!" the ginger-haired man instantly shouted, his eyes flashing as he yanked his claws from the now-ruined wood of the bar and glared at the ice mage. "To subject Lucy to the kind of power it would take would almost certainly kill her!"

The guild erupted in shouts and arguments at that, and Master Makarov was eventually forced to have Erza restore order.

When silence once again fell, he looked at the lion and said, "I understand your reluctance. But there is no choice. She must be stopped, because while she's under Marionette's control, all her magic is at the dark mage's fingertips. Lucy is strong, and thus in this situation she is a danger to all of Fiore. There's no telling what the wizard controlling her will do with all that power, but it won't be anything good."

Loke couldn't help but think of Urano Metria. If the dark mage wielding Marionette against his mistress managed to figure out that she knew such powerful magic, Makarov was right. He or she would be able to wreak havoc across the countryside with it. And if the authorities got involved in the matter they wouldn't hesitate to kill the celestial mage to nullify the threat she posed, whether she _herself_ was innocent or not.

He stood up. There was no more time to spend on talking. They had to stop her now, before this got out of hand. "Anyone that's going with me had better get ready to go, because I'm not waiting for morning."

"There are no trains running now," Erza pointed out. "And walking will take too long."

"I'll arrange for transportation while you guys get ready. Meet me back here in one hour. Whoever isn't here by then will be left behind, because I'm leaving in one hour and ten minutes, and not a moment more," he finished evenly, before striding towards the doors without a further word.

Not one person said a thing when those doors were slammed open much harder than necessary, though a few of them glanced speculatively at his disappearing form and then at each other.

"Erza, I'm counting on you to keep an eye on Loke," Makarov said after a few moments of silence. "He will probably have to be backed into a corner before he'll use any sort of real force against Lucy. Since he's the only one with light-based power, he's the only one who can even _possibly_ chase Marionette's darkness out of her. Do whatever it takes to get him to do what must be done."

The redhead nodded, her expression grim. She didn't like it at all, but she understood what the master was saying. So when Gray and Natsu started to protest, she shot them a forbidding look, and they both fell silent again.

"And Erza?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Bring her back to us safely," the old man said, looking a lot older and more tired than usual in that moment, "and teach the bastard that did this to her why they shouldn't have messed with Fairy Tail."

"That goes without saying," she returned, then headed out as well to gather what she thought she might need, followed by Gray, Natsu, Wendy, Charle, and a very _un_ happy Happy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

True to his word, Loke had transportation waiting for the team when they got back to the guild, and he didn't wait one second past his one hour and ten-minute deadline to have them on their way.

The moment Natsu began groaning about his motion-sickness, the lion reached over with one hand and clocked him in the side of the head. When the dragon-slayer slumped under that heavy fist, he said, "One of you, just toss him in the back with the luggage and let him sleep it off. He'll wake up when we arrive at our destination, or I'll wake him up myself," curtly.

Both Gray and Erza cocked their brows in almost identical expressions of surprise at his actions, and if Loke hadn't been within a heartbeat of the killing edge, he might have laughed. As it was, he just stared at them through eyes that chilled everything they touched.

The other members of the team chose not to challenge the clearly on-edge male, instead just doing as he'd said and stuffing Natsu into the very back to snore the trip away.

"You said that Lucy was on the Heartfilia estate when you found her, right?" Gray murmured after a few minutes of weighted silence, and Loke shot him a sharp glance.

"Yes..."

"Well, I saw a map of that place once, and it's huge. Not to mention, she might not even be there anymore – there's no telling where that dark mage has had her go. So how are we supposed to find her?"

"I can lead us right to her, no matter where she is," Loke declared evenly enough despite his burning frustration with the situation and the slow pace he was being forced to endure.

"Oh? And how is that?" Erza questioned curiously.

"I'll know where Lucy is through our bond. I can feel her. I can _always_ feel her." _It's the only reason I haven't completely lost it already... because I still can,_ he thought with an inwardly dark laugh. _I'm just a ticking time-bomb in this situation, aren't I?_

"Bond?" Gray asked, a little surprised. When his friend had said that, it had seemed to have a deeper meaning than the relatively simple spirit-and-mage bond that he would naturally have with his owner.

The ginger-haired spirit shot him a _look_ and folded his arms across his chest. "That's what I said."

"Why does it seem that you aren't just talking about your _contracted_ bond?" Erza murmured, just as interested in the many undercurrents suddenly swimming around as Gray was. "Do her other spirits have the same sort of 'bond' with her?"

Deliberately stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles, Loke took his time responding. "No, they don't. Only I can feel her even when I'm in the celestial realm, only I can speak to her when I'm in my world through my key, and only _I_ can open my own gate and pass back and forth freely, regardless of her will."

"And why would that be?" the red-head prodded, watching the lion like a hawk through knowing brown eyes.

She received a closed-off glance for her trouble. "Because it's just that way."

Both brows rose at his avoidance. "Hmm," she said skeptically, not at all fooled, "I think there's a little more to it than that. If you do not wish to explain, however, I'll respect that – as long as it doesn't have any bearing on the current situation. If it does, even in a peripheral way, if it could _possibly_ give us a way to save Lucy, then I ask that you speak."

Loke met her eyes, a slightly feral spark gleaming in his for a few seconds before he shuttered his gaze again and shrugged. "It doesn't."

"So, what are we going to do when we find her?" Happy asked, his eyes huge and face solemn.

"That's something that we can't really plan too well, since we don't know anything about what's going on, or why. Or _how_ , for that matter," the lion answered the Exceed, though his voice had gotten more frustrated at his last statement.

"Loke-" Gray began, seeing as his friend was getting increasingly upset. But he was cut off before he could get anything else out.

"Dammit, she was _fine_ when I left her after she'd seen that bastard lawyer - I made sure she was safely in her hotel room before I would agree to go back to the celestial realm! And then I'd barely arrived back there when I felt something terribly wrong and realized that Lucy was in danger. When I turned around and came _back_ through my gate, she wasn't anywhere near her room, she was running around out in the countryside. What the hell _happened_ in the short time I was gone?!" he exclaimed sharply, one large fist clenching involuntarily as he imagined it wrapping around the throat of whoever was responsible.

Erza reached out to the hurting spirit. Clasping his shoulder, she told him, "We _will_ save her. None of us will give up on Lucy, just like she's never given up on any of us."

 _Oh, you have no idea,_ Loke couldn't help but think, though he nodded at the warrior mage in silent thanks as she took her hand away. _If she had, I wouldn't be here now. She laid everything on the line for me even when she barely knew me, standing up to Seirei-o the way she did. My heart won't allow me to do any less for her._

 _Even if it cost my life, I would never give up on hers._

"Erza's right," Gray affirmed. "We'll find a way to save her, no matter what it takes. We'll never turn our backs on her, Loke. You should know that."

"Yes, you should," Charle agreed firmly.

The lion twisted his neck and cracked it, then exhaled slowly and nodded. "I do. That's why I came to get you guys. I wouldn't trust anyone else to help me with this."

"Lucy's our nakama, the same as you. And we don't leave nakama behind, no matter what. That's not Fairy Tail's way," Erza said, the others agreeing with strong, supportive voices.

Loke gave his friends a small, though sincere smile. "I know it."

"Then you should explain as much of the circumstances as you can," Titania stated. "Has anything suspicious happened to her lately, something that sticks out in your mind, maybe someone hassling her? Do you know anything about her last job? And you said something about her visiting a lawyer. Could any of that have any involvement in what's happened?"

With a frown, the lion ran a thumb over his mouth and thought about her questions. "I don't see how... but I can't dismiss anything, at this point," he replied. "As for the job she was on, I don't have much information on that, since she didn't need my assistance. It was a non-combat job, but that's really all I know except that she successfully completed it, to the gratification of the client." _Speaking of something that happened recently that sticks out in my mind..._ "While she was on the way to the town it was in, her train was attacked..." he trailed off slowly as his eyes narrowed. _Could_ that situation have had anything to do with this one?

"Her train was attacked?" Gray asked sharply, his brows in his bangs. "How did she get out of that mess safely?"

Loke cast his friend a slightly vexed look. "Does she know you think so poorly of her? It wasn't all that difficult. When I felt her worry through the bond I opened my gate and came through, and she told me what was happening. Then I had her call out Gemini, and while I went to fight the main group of bandits that were planning to kill the engineer and hijack the train, she and the twins went to take out the ones that had gathered the other passengers and were holding them prisoner."

"I didn't mean it _that_ way, Loke. Stop being so oversensitive," Gray muttered with a roll of his eyes. "I know Lucy's strong and quite capable of doing what has to be done."

Exhaling sharply, the lion ran a hand through his wild ginger mane of hair. "Yeah, I know. Sorry I'm so short-tempered right now."

The dark-haired ice mage shook his head at his friend. "It's okay, man, I understand. We're all worried about Lucy, too."

Loke just nodded. It wasn't quite the same for them, but the reason for that wasn't anyone else's concern, so he didn't say anything.

"The train robbers... what happened with them?" Wendy piped up, her brows furrowed curiously.

"Yeah," Happy added. "I was just wondering about that, too."

"Once we rounded them all up they were restrained and left under armed guard by a couple of the conductors. From something Lucy mentioned later, the train stopped in the next town down the line and they turned them over to the authorities there. Actually," the spirit said, somehow managing to turn a smile on the young girl despite the fear for his mistress determinedly poking him in the gut, "it turned out that the gang had been operating for a while, and the company that owns the railroads had offered a substantial reward for their capture. So she made quite a killing between apprehending them and completing her job."

"Do you know any details about the bandits?" Charle asked.

Glancing at the white cat, he replied, "Not much. They only had one mage with them, and he wasn't very strong. The rest weren't even particularly gifted physical fighters. To be honest," he shrugged, lifting a hand and staring at it with an expression that intrigued the others, "they seemed little more than a group of low-life's with little skill in anything more than frightening the weak and helpless."

"I sense a 'but' in there..."

He chuckled and looked over at the warrior mage, though his eyes weren't all that amused. "Erza, you've always been good at picking up on what lies beneath. You're right. There was a man in the group... he wasn't a mage, but he seemed to be awful knowledgeable about magic for one who had none. Pretty young, and a little better than the others with weapons." His eyes gleamed with a cold light, then. "He was the one who managed to hurt Lucy. He'd gotten her with a knife he had hidden on him, and though it wasn't deep it was fairly long, going from her wrist to her elbow. I cleaned and bandaged it after we'd beaten the group and tied them all up."

"I hope you taught the bastard a lesson for that," Gray hissed angrily.

The dangerous expression in the lion's eyes only strengthened, and a rather terrifying smile crossed his face. "Oh, I most certainly did," he purred. "I made _quite_ sure he knew _exactly_ how much I disapprove of those who hurt my mistress. It was a lesson he won't soon forget – that is, if he even has much of a lifespan left to worry about it. From what I heard, those guys have killed several people already, including some fairly prominent ones, and they might just end up getting executed."

"Well, that would seem to be that, then," Gray said, a bit disappointed that line of questioning hadn't produced a more promising lead.

"Not so fast. We can't dismiss them as possibilities, because while the gang themselves might have been imprisoned, that doesn't mean this isn't revenge for Lucy's capture of them anyway. I'm sure at least some of those guys have family or friends of one sort or another somewhere," Erza cautioned, then looked at Loke. "Do you know anything else about them?"

He shook his head. "Nope, and I don't think Lucy did, either."

The redhead frowned thoughtfully. "Moving on, then... do you have any idea why she was visiting a lawyer?"

"I do. She's been planning to sell her family's estate, and had the man looking for a buyer. I guess he was their family lawyer or something, the rude, pompous little twit. He found someone who's interested and requested a meeting with her to discuss the offer."

"Rude, pompous little twit?" Wendy giggled at Loke's phrasing, while Happy snorted a laugh behind one paw.

"Well, he was. He didn't stay that way for long, though."

"What did you do to him?" Gray asked.

"Gave him a taste of his own medicine. Although it wasn't just me," he smiled a little, remembering his surprise at hearing Lucy speak so cavalierly to someone – and his pleasure at the fact that it had been in defense of _him_. (Though it should go without saying that he wasn't happy that she'd let the fool treat _her_ the way he had.) "I had no idea she had it in her, but you'd have thought she was a queen the way she cowed him."

"Was he a mage? Could this attack on Lucy have come from him?" Erza questioned.

"Not a drop of magic anywhere," Loke returned, waving a hand with casual derision. "He was a dull, plodding old fool. I very much doubt he had anything to do with it. It happened too quickly after their meeting, for one thing, and I don't think he even _knows_ any mages besides Lucy herself – if he does, then I doubt it's a very close relationship."

Gray made a frustrated sound, then. "This is all just speculation, anyway. For all we know, this might have nothing personal to do with Lucy at all. It could be anything – a vendetta against someone she's friends with or even a random attack on her by a wizard looking for any powerful mage to turn into a puppet. It could all be just a 'wrong place, wrong time' kind of thing. Our best bet right now is to discuss what Master told us about Marionette and come up with at least some possible courses of action once we get to wherever she is. The answers to our questions can come after we've freed her."

Knowing Gray was right didn't soothe the lion's jangling instincts or fears at all, and he sat up and swept a hand through his hair again, making it seem even wilder and more untamed than usual.

"Yeah, well, we can't really do much on that topic, either," he growled. "We just have too little information to come up with anything viable at this point."

"Maybe not, but we can at least have some ideas already discussed by the time we get there."

"Such as?" Loke questioned the ice mage, once more on edge. _They'd better not mention me actually turning my power against Lucy again..._

Erza answered. "Such as how we're going to split up the fight. There's going to be more than one front in this battle. There's Lucy herself, and then there's the mage controlling her – and it's possible there's others involved, as well. We need to have at least a tentative plan agreed on before we arrive."

Gray met her serious gaze with one of his own. "Got something in mind?" he asked, before the lion could.

She nodded. "When we arrive wherever it is that she's at, we can refine it a little more depending on what we find, but at least for now I think we should go at the matter this way. Loke, you, Wendy, Charle, and Gray will go after Lucy. Once you've engaged her I will take on whoever it is that's controlling her, and Natsu and Happy can investigate the surrounding terrain and take out anyone else who might be around."

"Why do I need Wendy, Charle, _and_ Gray with me?" Loke asked, looking through narrowed, suspicious eyes at the red-haired mage.

"Well, I was thinking that Gray might be able to immobilize Lucy to keep her from hurting herself or others, and Wendy should be there just in case she's injured – as well as to see if her healing magic can possibly help Lucy reestablish the link between her heart, mind, and soul."

"But Master Makarov already said that only Lucy-san could do that," Charle interjected. "And only _after_ the mage controlling her has been taken out and the darkness of Marionette has been chased from her."

"Yes, he did. But he's basing that opinion off of what used to be considered true about a magic that's been forbidden for years. Back before it was banned, there wasn't a mage like Wendy to help. I'm not saying she can, just that's it's possible. I think it's worth trying, don't you?" Erza asked – though no one in the carriage missed that she hadn't answered the rest of Charle's statement.

 _I know what you're thinking, Erza... and you'd better stop. I refuse to turn my power against Lucy like that. There has to be some other way, and I'll just have to find it. _

Loke braced his elbows on his knees and laid his head in his hands, his heart hurting. _I hate this..._ "You're right. It's worth a try." Then he cocked his head a little and glanced at Erza out of one livid hazel eye. "But _I'm_ the one that's going to go after the bastard that did this to her, and I'm not going to back down on that, so don't bother trying to convince me."

She looked steadily back at him, but didn't respond otherwise. Loke knew her too well to think she'd given in, but since she didn't say anything, he left it alone. It wouldn't matter anyway. When they found the fucker responsible, he'd take him out before she could do anything to stop him.

"Is that just because she's your mage?" Happy asked, a calculating expression in his eyes that actually managed to catch the lion by surprise - he'd never seen the cat give anyone a look quite like that before.

 _Well, he's certainly not as oblivious as Natsu usually is to the undercurrents._

"No," was all he said in reply, though he turned his gaze away from the blue Exceed as he did.

"Or maybe it's because she saved you from certain death, and you feel a debt to her."

Erza's eyes were a little too perceptive for Loke's tastes as she watched him take in Gray's statement. Unable to really hide his clamoring emotions from his friends any longer due to his already heightened tension and churning stomach, he sighed. Clasping his hands between his knees, he stared at the floor, and a humorless chuckle slipped from his throat as he looked back at that time in his life.

During the three years he'd been stuck in Earthland he'd accepted his coming death as the only acceptable penance for his part in Karen's. What did he have to live for, anyway? Being picked over by the next cruel human to gain his key? Used and abused as nothing more than a perpetual tool? His exile had made him look at the life he'd lived as a celestial spirit and wonder why any of them would even want to continue existing – they were the stars, the sentient glory of the night skies, and yet they had been made little more than slaves to dull, light-less humans.

He'd been very bitter.

And then he'd looked up one day from his seat in Fairy Tail's guildhall and witnessed a miracle walk through the doors. He'd immediately felt a resonance between himself and her soul that he'd never experienced before, and even though by then the agony of his energy slowly being eaten away had become his constant companion, it had suddenly eased as a wisp of her magic slipped away from her and teased his senses. Then it had gently slid inside him as though looking to heal him, and seared away his pain.

Her power had burned hotter than the stars of his heart-system, and for _one moment_ outside of time he'd basked joyously in the glorious and all-encompassing heat like a small cub.

But when he'd realized just what kind of mage she was, he'd panicked. How could he not have noticed? The thing was, Lucy's magic hadn't really felt like any human magic he'd ever encountered, not even a celestial mage's. If there was anything that even came close, it was a stellar spirit's own power. Her magic felt _sort_ of the same, but not quite. It was truly unique... as was she.

At the time, however, he'd let his knowledge of her _use_ of said power sour him to what kind of person she really was, and it had taken repeated run-ins with her for him to finally be forced to accept that she could never be judged by any other stellar mage's actions.

She was Lucy. And she was just as brilliantly, boldly spectacular as any star in the heavens, and far more so than any other human.

Then he'd started running from her even more and with nothing but curses for the cruel, cruel joke fate had pulled on him in his last days. It had finally allowed him to meet the only woman in existence who could heal his heart... when it was far, far too late and he was beyond any sort of redemption. He'd absolutely hated life then, and his own most of all.

But too late or not, Lucy had fulfilled the promise he'd seen in her and saved him anyway. She'd taken a fallen star and placed him back in the heavens, something that had never happened before in all of history.

He would worship her for eternity for it. _She_ was _his_ guiding star, and he would follow her faithfully down whatever road she chose to take. As long as her light illuminated the path, he would never be lost again.

That was why he would be the one to destroy whoever it was that had done this – because they'd hurt her, and because they had stolen her away from him. It was his _right_ to be the one to make the bastard pay for his crimes against her as her knight, her prince, her strongest spirit.

It was also his right to take revenge on the one who'd taken the light of his life away.

"Are you really asking me if this is about duty, or because I'm trying to return the favor of a life for a life? If so, then the answer's no to both. It never has been," he finally said flatly, then fell silent. He didn't speak again, and the others, seeing that he was at the end of his patience, let the matter go for the time being.

Quiet once more fell in the carriage, leaving the only sound to be heard the rumbling of its wheels over the hard ground as it moved across the landscape.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was a long night for the group as a whole, but longest of all for Loke, who felt like he was going to go out of his mind with the skin-crawling tension and terror he was enduring. He didn't think he'd ever lived through a longer, darker one – not even when he'd been trapped in the mortal realm himself with his life-force being slowly and painfully eroded away.

The others dozed off and on through the night, at least trying to get what rest they could while they could. Loke didn't begrudge them that, though he envied them a little. _He_ wouldn't be able to sleep again until Lucy was back home safe and sound.

He groaned and sat up a little straighter from where he'd slouched against the seat back, rubbing at his dry eyes as light from outside the carriage indicated that dawn had finally arrived. He pulled back the cloth draping the windows and looked around. They were approaching their destination – he could feel Lucy getting closer, though they were still another hour or two away from where she was.

Tension beginning to heighten again, Loke deliberately stretched, taking care not to bump into Wendy, who was still sleeping along with Gray, Happy, and Natsu. Erza and Charle were the only two others that were awake at the moment.

Sighing quietly, he didn't even realize he was clenching fists that were beginning to glow lightly until Charle cleared her throat and looked at him meaningfully. He grimaced and apologized, deliberately relaxing his hands and cutting off the flow of his power. He just wanted to hit something so badly...

"Lucy needs you to stay calm right now," Erza said softly as she watched him fighting to find his center.

"I know that," he replied just as softly, though he sent her a slightly perturbed look. "It doesn't stop the worry."

"It never will," she smiled without any rancor. There was a slightly dark look in her eyes, as though worry was an emotion she was well-acquainted with. With her background, she probably was. "But you can't let it get in the way of saving her."

"Oh, it won't," Loke assured her coolly. "You don't have to worry about that." _Nothing will get in the way of saving her, not even you guys. You're my friends and I care about you, but Lucy comes first._

 _Lucy will always come first._

~~LoLu~~

By the time they arrived near the town that lay close to the Heartfilia estate, it was more than obvious that something was going on. There were explosions and people screaming, and as the carriage came to an abrupt stop on the edges of town, Loke practically tore the door from its frame getting out of it. He grabbed the arm of the first man that tried to pass him.

"What's going on?" he demanded, though he already knew it had something to do with Lucy, because he could feel her very close now, and her magic was through the roof. He paled at the feel – if this kept up, the dark mage controlling her would burn her out forever, sending her into magic deficiency disease and killing her.

Magic deficiency disease – the same thing that had killed her mother.

"Some renegade mage, a young blonde woman, has taken out the jail here and freed several prisoners. They were captured and turned into a small town further down the line a few weeks ago – train robbers," he gasped, breathing hard from running. "Then they were brought here to wait for the king's justice, since I guess it turns out they'd killed some important people on another train robbery." He panted for a moment more, then pulled his arm from Loke's grasp. "Now she's randomly targeting things and blowing them up." When he finished that statement he took off running again, in quite a hurry to get away from the danger, and the lion just let him go.

The others had piled from the carriage as well, even Natsu woken from his long sleep by the screams and commotion going on around them.

"So it _did_ have something to do with the train robbery that we stopped," Loke said through clenched teeth. He muttered a few curses under his breath, so deeply infuriated that it was getting more and more difficult not to just leave the others behind and step through his gate so that he could instantly reopen it in her immediate vicinity, and take on whoever he found anywhere near her.

The man who'd driven them all the way from Magnolia called down from his seat at that point. One didn't need to look up at him to feel his fear. "You'd better unload your things, because I'm not sticking around to deal with this kind of mess. I'm turning right back around and going home."

The lion sneered at the shivering little mouse of a man, though really he understood where the guy was coming from. The man wasn't a mage and couldn't do anything to protect himself from a situation like this. Normally he wouldn't begrudge such a thing – it was smart and even instinctual to stay away from what could harm you, those things that you couldn't otherwise defend yourself against. But at the current time, with Lucy being in such tremendous danger, he couldn't be so sanguine about the matter.

He climbed into the back of the carriage and rapidly unloaded everyone's gear before Gray or Natsu could follow Erza's order to grab their stuff from the carriage, then jumped down and scowled at the driver. "There. Now get the hell out of here."

The driver didn't even attempt to say a word in return, simply turning the carriage and setting the horses into a lope. He vanished back down the road, plowing right through the people trying to get away on foot.

Gray narrowed his eyes as he watched the carriage disappear; the bastard wasn't even attempting to watch out for those legging it, leaving several injured people behind on the ground. "Oi, fool!" he shouted after the disappearing carriage, shaking a fist at the cretin. "Don't think I won't track you down when we get back to Magnolia and teach you a lesson about what you're doing right now!"

"Gray," Erza said, glancing at the irate mage, "now is not the time. You can deal with him once this matter has been successfully resolved."

Natsu had been staring in awe at the billowing clouds of dust giving away the celestial mage's location.

"Damnnn... I haven't seen Lucy cause this much destruction since we met in Hargeon Town and she summoned Aquarius against that fake Salamander guy and his boat. She wiped out most of the harbor that night. That's when I knew she'd be a perfect fit for Fairy Tail!"

Wendy winced at his rather impressed statement. "Natsu-san, this is not a good thing. When Lucy-san wakes up, she's going to feel terribly guilty for what she's done, though it isn't her fault. And it will be so much worse if she's hurt or even... even-" her voice fell into a whisper, "-killed someone."

Loke glowered at the dragon-slayer over his shoulder for a second, totally in agreement with the smaller slayer's statement, before turning back around to see if he could tell where Lucy was heading.

Erza smacked the pink-haired teen in the back of the head and glared at him with disapproving eyes, cowing him. "Wendy is right, Natsu. This isn't something you should be proud of. Lucy won't be, and you know it."

"Can you tell where she is in all that mess?" Gray stepped up next to the tense celestial spirit and glanced at him through sympathetic eyes as they both ignored the others for the moment.

Loke didn't even notice the way his friend was watching him, too busy tracing his owner's energy. "Yeah, I can feel her, just like I told you. She's heading in a relatively straight line towards the north-" he pointed, "-northwest. Does anyone know what's out there?"

Natsu ran his eyes across the landscape with a frown, remembering his journey here after the whole Phantom Lord mess, when Lucy had left a simple note behind saying that she was going home, and disappeared. He'd come after her, and he still remembered the general layout of the area – or at least, what he'd seen of it.

"There's some ruins out there, I think," he said after a moment, frowning thoughtfully, and the others turned and looked at him in surprise. "If I'm remembering it right, part of her family's estate shares a border with those ruins."

Loke stared at him, eyes piercing. "How do you know?"

"After Phantom Lord attacked, when Lucy felt so guilty about what they'd done to the guild and all because her father sent them after her, she decided to return to him. I followed her, 'cause I thought she might not come back. It turned out that she'd only come to warn him never to go after Fairy Tail again, though."

The sounds of explosions had tapered off, then disappeared entirely while they were talking, and it was clear to Loke that she'd moved beyond the town's limits. He glanced at the rest of the group.

"She's left the town," he said. "If Natsu's right about those ruins, that might just be where the dark mage is holing up. We should follow."

Those fleeing the chaos had finally thinned; as there hadn't been any further explosions for several long minutes now, there seemed no further need for escape. And as Loke had already indicated that Lucy was now outside the town, the team didn't bother worrying about the people there any longer.

"Someone's going to have to go in and find the authorities," Gray stated, hands shoved in his pockets as he stared down the road. "We'll need to assure them that we have this under control before they call in outside help. We definitely don't need that."

Erza nodded, though her expression wasn't pleased at having to lose a team member for such a thing. "You go take care of that, then," she spoke up crisply. "Happy, you go with him, and once he has things under control there, you fly him to the ruins that we're heading for. I'm sure you'll be able to see them fairly easily from the air."

The ice mage's lips tightened, not really wanting to miss out on the chance to get some good blows in against the one that had done this to one of his closest friends for himself. He supposed he and Happy would just have to hurry... though from the forbidding, closed expression on Loke's face, no one but him was going to be getting any real satisfaction from the bastard in question, anyway.

He sighed. "Fine. But you'd better leave some for me," he added. "I'm going to be pissed if I came all this way just to spend my time appeasing the townspeople instead of getting some payback of my own for what's been done to Lucy. Let's go, Happy."

"Aye, sir!" the Exceed saluted and then sprouted his wings, before lifting the dark-haired teen up and rapidly disappearing into the town.

Without a word Loke began heading overland in Lucy's direction, and the rest of the team exchanged solemn, worried glances before hurrying after him.

Surprisingly, after just a few minutes the spirit came to a stop in an area heavily covered by a wild tangle of overgrown vegetation, and looked at Erza. He shook his head at her a little dryly. "If you didn't pack everything you own every time you go anywhere, you wouldn't run into this problem." He indicated a spot where the shrubs and plants and even a few low scrub trees covered the ground completely with a finger, and continued, "I think you should be able to hide your luggage there without having to worry that anyone's going to find it."

The red-haired mage couldn't help the appreciative glance she sent the lion. She'd been having a hell of a time hauling her usual cart behind her and keeping up with his long-legged stride what with the challenging terrain, but she hadn't thought he'd even noticed. Not with the way he was distracted and worried sick about Lucy.

She should have known better; despite his flirty, playboy ways, and occasional absentmindedness when focused on something else, he'd always been a gentleman when it came down to it.

"It's as good a place as any," she agreed with a small smile and a nod at him. "Thank you, Loke."

"Don't mention it," he replied, though his gaze had once more turned to stare into the distance, his eyes darkening again with anxiety.

Between them, Erza and Natsu managed to hide the large cart in less than five minutes, and as soon as they'd stepped back and indicated that they were done the lion was off again, though this time the formidable female mage had no problem keeping up with him.

Loke himself was actually barely aware of them at this point, his senses all trained on his mistress as he followed her on a parallel track from a half-mile or so behind. He didn't want those around her to realize they were being trailed and set an ambush for them; he much preferred to be the one _doing_ the ambushing.

At this point the lion's thoughts were pretty dark, and he was entertaining the part of his brain not busy tracing Lucy's trail with very cimmerian visions of just what he wanted to do to the one who'd had the nerve to put their hands on his mistress. He was peripherally aware that the others would doubtless be thoroughly shocked if they could see into his vengeful mind right at that point, but he simply couldn't bring himself to care.

He was a lion, and though he normally seemed nothing more than an easy-going human man in a neat suit, there was a wildness, a ferocity that hid just under that unassuming surface that most never noticed. Even his fellow Fairy Tail mages and friends hadn't seen that side of him before.

But the beast that lurked inside him paced impatiently just out of sight, eager to take their mistress back and avenge her, and very soon now it would break free. Once that happened, they'd _know_. He almost idly wondered how they'd look at him afterward, but in the end it didn't matter.

 _You don't toy with a lion's pride._

 _It's a death sentence._

He paused in his prowling stride and then swept a cautioning hand out. As the others came to an immediate halt, he tilted his head and closed his eyes, listening to his inward sense of the bond he shared with Lucy.

An icy, nauseous feeling swept through his gut even worse than it had yesterday when he'd been in the celestial realm and this had all started, and he shivered. _Something's happening,_ his sense of her whispered.

How he knew for certain, since Lucy wasn't conscious, he would never know. Technically, right now he shouldn't really be getting anything other than the general sense that she was alive, because her mind was asleep and couldn't broadcast any reactions to circumstances she wasn't even aware of. But he was.

He stiffened in response to what he'd felt and a low growl slipped from his throat. "We have to hurry," he said urgently before breaking into a soft-footed, almost silent run. He heard the low curses from Natsu and the exclamations from the others but didn't stop. There was no more time.

It wasn't difficult for him to outdistance them, and Loke broke into a small clearing ringed by low trees and the abundant, local brush well-ahead of his friends. He came to an instant halt at the sound of voices from just beyond the perimeter of the glade for a few seconds, and then crept carefully forward until he came to the first of the ruins that Natsu had mentioned. After determining that the sounds were coming from slightly past them, he slunk into the remains of what appeared to have once been a mid-sized stone house and peered around a half-collapsed wall.

There was the remnant of a much larger building across what had once been a street, and that was where the voices were coming from in front of.

Loke's eyes narrowed dangerously. Standing out front of the old edifice were a group of men – men he remembered from the gang of train robbers. They were accompanied by a tall, dark-haired man he didn't recognize, and Lucy herself. His eyes swept over her, greatly relieved to see that she appeared at least physically unharmed.

That emotion didn't last when he began to hear what they were arguing about.

"-get some satisfaction for everything this bitch caused me!" the one who had sliced her arm was yelling at the slightly older man standing next to Lucy. "It's not like it matters if I give her a good fucking, it won't cause you any problems with controlling her and you know it! Hell, it wouldn't matter if we all fucked her. She's just a warm carcass at this point, anyway, right?"

"Not quite, Olvar," the man replied. "And it doesn't matter what you want, I'm in charge here, not you."

"It's that wench's fault I look like this, not to mention that I was arrested and sentenced to death!" the one now known as Olvar shouted back as he pointed at his own face, where bruising was still visible from the beating Loke had laid on him for cutting Lucy as he had.

He didn't even realize that he'd begun to move towards the group until a hand reached out and grabbed his arm, nor that his eyes had burned from their normal hazel to a glowing gold until Erza sucked in an almost-silent surprised breath when he turned to glare at her and she caught sight of his face.

After a few heartbeats of staring into his suddenly slit-pupiled eyes, she shook her head. "Not yet," she mouthed silently.

Barely stopping the menacing snarl that was about to break free of his throat, Loke bared his teeth. "Just how long do you plan to wait? Did you hear what they _said_?!" he whispered back, his fury clear despite the barely there sound. His eyes flicked to the side and met Natsu's just as incensed ones, and then further to Wendy and Charle's horrified expressions. _Damn, I wish those two hadn't heard those bastards..._

"Yes," she breathed, her eyes flat and dangerous. "And if they move to touch her, I won't hesitate to attack them. But for now, we need to decide how to go about this."

Even knowing she was right didn't make Loke want to listen to her. He could barely hear the wisdom in her statement when those men were talking so casually about raping his mistress. Even the _suggestion_ of such a thing made him want blood, and in about two more seconds he would take it, Erza and the others be damned.

"Control yourself, little brother," the man who'd been revealed as the dark mage snapped, glaring at the younger man warningly. "While her mind might be asleep, it's possible that her magic could itself respond to such a direct threat to her and make you disappear. If you know what's good for you, stay away from her."

"Liar. I know better than that, Delenn. You taught me enough about magic not to fall for that bullshit excuse," the still-bruised man sneered, running an angry hand through his dark hair and making it even more of a mess. "You just want her for yourself, don't you?"

Loke tensed even further as Delenn reached out and grasped Lucy's arm, pulling her into his side.

"Are you challenging me, Olvar?" he asked the man he'd called his younger brother, his voice dropping dangerously and his eyes narrowing. "You, who has no power?" Then he turned dismissively, and still holding onto Lucy, headed through the yawning doorway behind him.

The man's answer was lost beneath the jeering and dismissive voices of the others as they followed their apparent leader, and Erza took that opportunity to speak.

The lion wasn't particularly surprised to find that the warrior mage was already in the middle of planning their assault.

"Were all the men that you remember from the attempt on the train there?" she asked in a still barely-audible voice.

"No. There were a couple missing at least."

She nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "So there could be at least a few more somewhere else close by. Hm." She glanced carefully around at what they could see from where they were hiding. "That building looks big enough to hold them all, but I wonder if the ones you didn't see have been posted as lookouts elsewhere in the vicinity."

"It's possible," he replied, gritting his teeth against the worry for Lucy and his almost overwhelming desire to rush in and steal her away to safety.

"Well, I can help answer _that_ question and even draw their attention so you guys can go and get Lucy away from that prick," Natsu grinned tightly before ramming his right fist into his left hand and igniting it. There was no opportunity to stop him before he charged ahead and started yelling challenges to those inside the building, and Erza was left to curse the impulsive teen as shouts answered him and the men that had just disappeared into it came running back out.

When Lucy appeared with whip in hand and ready to fight, though, she was left with little choice but to requip and follow the dragon-slayer out – he'd be unable to fight them all with Lucy underfoot, so she'd have to battle her friend herself, since she was certain that Loke wouldn't, especially at this point. As Master had said, he'd probably have to be backed into a corner before he'd do what they really all knew would have to be done.

"Wendy, with me," she called out as she strode forward, and the young teen scrambled to follow her after a rather numb look at the celestial spirit, Charle hovering protectively above her shoulder.

Loke was actually pleased – by Erza's actions, she was leaving the bastard responsible for Lucy's state to him, just as he'd demanded. And he was most certainly going to make the man pay for such an egregious lapse in judgment as to harm the woman who was not only his beloved mistress, but a member of Fairy Tail, as well.

As the requip mage had said, Fairy Tail did not leave nakama behind, no matter what. To harm one was to harm all, and they would enact a swift and terrible retribution for such a thing. He was just as eligible to do so as Erza or any of the others because he was, after all, still a Fairy Tail mage. His status as Lucy's celestial spirit hadn't changed that – it just gave him even further reason to gain righteous vengeance on the ones responsible, not that he really needed it.

When it came down to it, he was going to kill the dark mage for the same reason he protected his mistress so wholeheartedly - a reason that had nothing to do with duty... or the guild.

He waited only until the rest of the team had engaged the bandits and Lucy before stepping out to face the one not already fighting someone else – the man who was ultimately responsible for her condition. A wicked, menacing grin took his lips at the surprise on the bastard's face when he noticed him, and he slowly stalked forward on light feet as he charged his ring in preparation for the coming battle.

Loke paid absolutely no attention to the even louder ruckus when the other men, who were all fighting with Natsu, noticed him and started shouting about his connection to their arrests to their leader. It didn't matter one little bit whether the man knew who he was or not, because the knowledge wouldn't help him either way.

Both he and his younger brother were already nothing more than dead men walking - he was only there to finish the job and bury them.

Cat-like eyes gleamed with an alien light as he closed with the man now warily trying to back away.

"W-who the fuck _are_ you?" the man quavered as he felt the incredible energy bleeding outward from Loke, his entire body glowing with golden light.

The lion's malicious grin only widened at the fearful query, and he purred the answer with a great deal of satisfaction.

"Your executioner."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Tell me," Loke began almost pleasantly as he moved towards Delenn, "how you found out that Lucy was responsible for taking down your little band of thieves."

The other man, seemingly mesmerized by his intent stare, said, "It wasn't hard. When they didn't return from taking the train when they should have, I went looking for answers. I found my brother and the rest of the gang hidden away behind bars, where they would have stayed until the executioner could get to them. The soldiers in town made the mistake of allowing me to talk to him, and he told me what happened. One of them mentioned her name in his hearing, so he told me who she was."

"Perhaps," Loke replied, "but that doesn't tell me how you knew that she'd come here, since she no longer lives in this area and hasn't in some years."

"You'd be surprised what a person can learn when one of the 'authorities' is in his pockets," Delenn answered a little smugly this time, still matching every step of Loke's, who hadn't once halted his slow but implacable pace. "I have several in different towns along the railroad. She'd mentioned in this one's hearing that she would be coming here to talk to her family's lawyer sometime towards the end of the month, and he told me. Greed so often turns a good man bad, doesn't it?"

The lion laughed cynically. Of course. Crooked officials. Well, it looked as though they had more people to go after. He'd have to be sure to get names and places from Delenn before killing the bastard.

"Greed doesn't _turn_ anyone. If you're _really_ a good man, it won't have any hold on you," Loke stated with disgust. "Only the weak of heart are taken over by the love of money."

It was Delenn's turn to laugh, though he still watched his adversary warily and countered his every move. "Don't tell me you wouldn't be tempted by it – with that pretty suit, you look like you have expensive tastes. Just think of all the things you could have if you just had the funds. I could give that to you," he added slyly. "Anything you wanted would be yours if you joined me..."

 _I can't believe that fool is trying to buy me!_

He growled, a deep, guttural sound that clearly caught the other man off-guard with its animalistic tone.

"The only thing I want, money can't buy and _you_ can't give me. I don't give a damn about your money or your influence or any other such pursuits, so you can keep your blandishments to yourself. They won't do a thing to save you." Loke blinked as a faint strangeness stroked phantom fingers down his spine, and absently brushed the feeling away.

The dark mage scowled at him and recoiled as if struck, sweat visibly breaking out on his forehead. "What the fuck are you? Why is my control magic not working against you?!" he shouted, disconcerted.

So _that_ was what that odd feeling had been. Marionette. Loke grinned evilly, his elongated fangs quite visible despite the light still bleeding from him.

"Marionette works by using dark magic to sever the link between a person's mind and soul. Or... perhaps I should have said a _human's_ mind and soul. You see, I'm not human - I don't have a soul for you to sever the link to. I'm a celestial spirit, a being of pure power that you cannot control." He bowed mockingly at the now-gaping man. "The name is Leo for those not in the know... and Lucy is my mistress."

At that, the man's eyes widened dramatically, and his fear-scent only increased. With a gleeful sense of anticipation the lion gathered himself to attack, but in an instant the situation flipped upside down and he was cursing instead, as Delenn simply vanished from sight with a defiant shout.

For a moment Loke thought he'd successfully managed to get somewhere far enough away that he couldn't be tracked, but then he turned to where his friends were all fighting, and realized that Lucy was still attacking Erza. Since that was the case the cur still had to be somewhere nearby, otherwise she would simply have collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, much as he despised that particular analogy at this point.

His light dying down for the time being, he took a moment to see how the others were actually faring. Erza was holding her own with Lucy, only attacking enough to keep her busy and out of Natsu's way, and otherwise just defending herself. Wendy was staying back a little and providing support to her, and the Salamander was having fun beating the hell out of the rest of the bandits. Since they weren't even wizards he was just using his fists and no power, but he was a hell of a brawler, magic or no, and it showed.

Apparently, experience with all the fistfights at the guild had done him a world of good.

Seeing as they were all doing fine, Loke turned his attention back to his own prey. It was time to hunt the bastard down, and he was going to thoroughly enjoy it.

Lifting his nose just a little he closed his eyes and inhaled, savoring the different scents clouding the air and unraveling them one by one until he found what he was looking for.

And then he disappeared, moving swiftly after his mark.

~~LoLu~~

Gray and Happy heard and saw the sounds of combat long before they arrived in the vicinity of the fight, and not being a fool, the ice mage had the Exceed land so they could sneak up on the combatants and see just what was happening. He didn't want to charge into something blindly and put himself or any of his team in danger.

They slid through the ruined architecture on near silent feet, coming up on their friends from a slight angle. It took a few minutes, but when they finally got close enough to see what was going on, Gray scowled.

"I don't see Loke at all, even though Lucy's there fighting with Erza. And I don't see anyone that could be the dark mage, either."

"That's probably because Loke's chasing him. He's a grown-up cat, and grown-up cats usually like to hunt their prey down and play with it before killing it," Happy said solemnly, looking up at him through huge, unblinking eyes.

"Hmm." Gray was a little disturbed by that, but what could he say? He wasn't a cat. "Loke wouldn't really... kill the guy, would he?" he asked uneasily, and didn't know what to think when Happy just shrugged. Instead of trying to figure it out, he turned his attention to Natsu and what he was doing. That was safer territory.

"Well, it looks like the flame-brain's having all sorts of fun over there," he griped. "And he's not leaving any for me! Dammit, Natsu," he bellowed, running out from under cover and plowing a fist into one man that had just been flung that way by the dragon-slayer, sending him through a stone retaining wall and into unconsciousness, "I told you guys to leave some for me!"

And just like that, everything went terribly wrong.

When asked later, Gray could never say why it hadn't occurred to any of them that there might be magical traps set up around the ruins, but it hadn't until just that moment. So when the ground dropped out from beneath him he wasn't at all prepared, and it cost him a hard landing when he was thrust out of the magic in a different part of the ruins than he'd started in.

 _Well, shit...talk about not charging in blindly..._

He groaned, then rolled over painfully and sat up to look around. The area was now almost eerily silent, and he was pretty sure that the others had been taken by surprise just as much as he had been when he'd triggered that snare. They had probably been scattered to several different locations, and now they'd have to find their way back to each other. But he was pretty sure there were other booby traps set up in different places, so they'd be forced to move much more cautiously than they otherwise would have.

Shaking the ringing out of his head, he finally stood up and tested his legs. They were thankfully okay, but he did have a nice long gash down most of his torso, where he'd landed on a broken piece of masonry and then slid down after the magic dropped him. With a muffled curse he tore off the remains of his shirt and ripped it into several semi-wide strips, which he then used to bind the still-dirty wound as tightly as he was able. It would have to be cleaned thoroughly later, but for now there wasn't much he could do about it, since there wasn't any water around.

"Only got to lay one guy out and already I'm bleeding and the team is all separated," he muttered sourly to himself as he tied the makeshift bandage off. "Fucking magical snags. Always did hate this kind of crap."

He looked around after he'd finished, trying to decide where to go, but after a moment he shook his head with a frustrated scowl and just chose a direction at random. _It's not like it matters with this team. With as noisy and destructive as we are, I'll find the others sooner or later no matter which way I-_

"Woah!" he shouted in surprise as something whizzed past, barely missing striking him in the shoulder, and he jumped back and looked up only to meet Lucy's blank, dead brown eyes as she snapped her whip at him again with absolutely no expression on her face. It was a terrifying thing to see, especially on the features of a woman who was usually so very animated and emotive.

 _You're like a ghost within me who's draining my life~it's like my soul is see through~ right through my empty eyes...*_

Gray shivered. That was part of a song he'd heard just once and never forgotten. _What haunting, prophetic words..._ It was exactly what that dark mage was – an eidolon that was draining Lucy's magic and thereby her life, if not stopped soon enough.

But now he knew _exactly_ what Loke had been talking about when he'd described her blank gaze, and why the other man had been so anxious and upset. He could only empathize with his friend, because seeing the celestial mage like that was just horribly disturbing and totally _wrong_.

The blonde continued to press him, giving him no quarter as she continuously tried to trip him up. With no other options, Gray formed his ice and attempted to immobilize her with it, just like Erza had suggested he try in the carriage last night. Unfortunately, she was able to leap high enough above it to avoid any contact, and alighted on top of an old support pillar. She stared emptily at him for a few seconds, and then moved to attack again, only this time she used her power.

He was surprised not to see her summoning one of her spirits, however. Oddly, she just allowed her magic to form around her and then sent it in formless shards at him, like she was throwing knives at a target. He frowned even as he formed a shield around himself... why wasn't she using her normal form of magic?

There wasn't much time to ponder the question, though he had the feeling the answer was important, and within moments he was in a fight for his life with his friend's stolen body. Because he didn't want to hurt her he could do little but defend himself from her attacks and try to catch her unawares with his ice, which wasn't going to be easy. If he _could_ manage to encase her in it, though, it might be enough to keep her from causing any harm to anyone until they could get Loke to face reality, and use his power to rid her of the dark magic she literally reeked of.

 _You know... if Marionette is a forbidden magic, who the hell taught the guy controlling Lucy?_

That was a damn good question – and a frightening one all at the same time. More wizards with the ability to use this spell? Bad news, because if there _was_ some rogue mage out there that was teaching this magic to others, then they had a much, much bigger problem on their hands than they'd suspected.

As if the current situation wasn't bad enough.

~~LoLu~~

One moment Natsu had been happily knocking goons around, and the next he was being slammed through a thickly-mortared wall and into the ground somewhere _other_ than where he'd been a second before. Disoriented, he struggled to sit up and look around while his mind tried to catch back up to him.

 _Fucking booby traps,_ he scowled when it did and the reason for the abrupt departure from his brawl hit his brain. _This sucks... and I was finally having fun, too._ He pouted, very put out with the loss of enemies to pound.

Jackknifing back to his feet, the dragon-slayer dusted himself off a little and looked around calculatingly, then let out a muffled curse. If it were just him in the area he'd simply fire up and destroy the hell out of everything in his way, but with the rest of the team scattered who knew where in the rather maze-like ruins, not to mention any other pitfalls waiting to blow up in everyone's faces, he didn't dare.

 _Guess I'll have to do this the hard way,_ he thought with resignation. _Maybe I'll get lucky and find Happy. Then I can have him fly us back to that building the bastards were hiding in._

Just as he was about to pick a direction and start off, his ears picked up the distant sounds of fighting, and he immediately headed as fast as he dared in that direction. If someone was getting some action in he was going to join them, because he had a great deal of frustration to get out, and beating the hell out of those who were directly responsible for that fact was exactly what he needed to settle his nerves.

While a part of that frustration was admittedly because of the disruption to his fight, most of it was over what had been done to Lucy. The girl was his best friend next to Happy, and he cared about her more than just about anyone. And while others seemed to think he was a rather oblivious block-head, he wasn't really. He 'got' a lot more out of things than people gave him credit for, and he hadn't missed what Makarov had left unsaid – that she was in greater danger than any of them knew from this magic that had been used against her.

He also knew that Gramps had been circumspect in his words more because of Loke than anyone else.

The lion was normally a damn good man to have at your back, and in most situations Natsu wouldn't have a qualm about letting him guard his - but not in this one. Not with Lucy in this kind of mess. The celestial spirit had already proven just how single-minded he could become when it came to protecting her, and Natsu was fully aware that if it came down to it, his ultimate loyalty was to his mistress and no one else. On Loke's list of important things first, the blonde would always come first.

Natsu didn't really have a problem with that. It was just that _he_ would fight to save _everyone_ , no matter what, but if it came down to cases the spirit would save his keyholder and the rest of them would be on their own.

It was natural and he knew that; after all, a spirit was contracted to their wizard and was bound by stellar law to protect them above all others. If they didn't and said mage died, the spirit would end up with a death sentence themselves, as had happened to Loke once already, and only Lucy's intervention at the eleventh hour had saved him. But the dragon-slayer was pretty sure by now the fear of death really didn't have anything to do with the reason the leader of the Zodiac spirits was so very protective of his mistress.

He was also almost certain that if she died, even if it wasn't the lion's fault he would do whatever it took to follow her into the other world, though it would mean sacrificing his own immortality.

While he himself had a certain fear eating at him for Lucy's sake, he wasn't really all _that_ worried when it came right down to it. He had faith in his fellow Fairy Tail mages, and he had more in her than almost any others. She might be lost in darkness right now, but he fully expected that when Loke finally used his light magic to chase that dark energy out of her, she would find her way back to them quite quickly.

His blonde best-friend was strong – inwardly, she was stronger than just about anyone he'd ever met, and even more determined. She always saw herself as weak, but she wasn't, because when all the chips were down she just refused to give up. And somehow, with even the _smallest_ amount of light, she always managed to find a way.

He knew she would this time, too. He believed in her.

"Natsu-san!"

The slayer looked up and grinned when he saw Wendy and Charle flying towards him, and lifted a hand to wave at them. "Oi, glad to see you guys. Are you okay?" he asked as the white Exceed set her partner down in front of him and hovered at her side.

Wendy nodded. "We're fine. When those magic circles opened up and swallowed everyone, Charle managed to catch me before I could hit anything or land hard."

"That's good. Got any idea where the others are?"

"Well, we did see Lucy in the distance attacking someone, but we're not sure who. We tried to avoid her when we saw her. Since she was fighting Erza before we all got separated, that might be who she's still battling against. But we haven't seen anyone else," the young teen finished reporting.

Natsu frowned, then shrugged. "Oh, well, we'll just have to track the others down, then."

"Do you know where Happy is?" Charle asked, a light blush on her face as she asked that. "You know, because it would be a lot easier if we could just fly over all this. There are probably more traps out there, and if we flew we could avoid them," she tried to cover her concern – not that the other two were really fooled.

But the pink-haired mage was too concerned with other things to tease the white cat like he might otherwise have done, and Wendy knew her partner too well to bother commenting. Now was not the time for such things, anyway.

"Nope," Natsu shook his head, "but I'm sure we'll find him soon. In the meantime, why don't you keep flying, Wendy? That way, if I trigger a snare, you won't get caught in it."

The smallest dragon-slayer started to protest, but Charle overrode her. "Natsu-san's idea is a good one," she told her friend. "There is no point in putting yourself in needless danger by walking when I'm right here."

The fire mage gave his younger teammate one of his signature toothy grins and a thumbs up. "It'll be fine, you'll see. And this way, you'll have a better line of sight than me, so you'll be able to spot the others quicker. That'll be a big help."

"And any enemies, as well," the white Exceed added in support.

Wendy nodded reluctantly. "Okay," she sighed, though she felt kind of guilty leaving the older slayer alone on the ground like that. But he and Charle were right, so she chose to channel that feeling into doing her best to look out for their other friends as well as any of the bandits.

"Sweet! Then let's go!" Natsu grinned again before continuing on in the direction he'd been headed when the two had found him.

Charle grasped ahold of Wendy and then lifted into the air and followed along behind and just above the other slayer, both girls keeping sharp eyes peeled. Neither needed to try very hard to see bits and pieces of Lucy through the sometimes obscuring haze of her battle with whatever member of the team she was fighting there in the distance, though. Especially as they were heading right for her.

Now, if only the rest of their teammates were so easy to find...

~~LoLu~~

Erza's eyes narrowed as she alighted gracefully on her feet after the magic dropped her, and she looked around carefully.

She'd been in the middle of battling her friend, keeping Lucy busy and out of everyone's way, when she'd heard Gray shout something. She hadn't even had time to glance his way when she'd been swallowed by dark magic, and then she'd been dropped here.

Wherever 'here' was.

The area she was in now had been reclaimed by nature a little more than where they'd been earlier, stone ruins overtaken by trees and vines wending their way through once-spacious rooms and old window openings. In some ways it was quite beautiful, but it was also eerie and a little sad. After a moment, she shook off her odd reverie and leaped lightly upward, landing on the remains of a broken old wall.

From her new vantage point she could see a little better than she had on the ground, and though there were signs of some of her friends in the distance, there didn't seem to be anyone close by. At least, not where she could get a visual. Nor did she hear anything telling. But after what had happened a few moments ago, she wasn't surprised by that – they were probably all being a bit more cautious in their movements now, even the usually impulsive Natsu.

Picking the only direction she could hear unnatural noises coming from, she jumped back down to the ground and began to pick her way through the rambling ruins. But she hadn't gone more than about twenty feet when a faint sound near her had her coming to an instant halt, and her eyes narrowed again in concentration as she listened.

She spun, her sword came up, and she batted away a formless blast of magic as the dark mage she'd last seen Loke stalking stepped around a large tree with a scowl.

"Dammit, why'd I have to run into one of you bastards!" he snarled. "What, are you a celestial spirit come to free your mistress, too?"

Not being stupid, Erza figured out what he was saying quickly and didn't give him the chance to question it any further, or to attempt taking her over. _I wasn't going to bring this armor, but now I'm glad I did... because with it, I can cut through the normal laws of magic. It's going to drain me fast, but there's no other choice._

"Nakagami armor," she said deliberately as she shimmered and requipped.

Then she grinned and beckoned the dark mage closer with one hand.

"Come."

~~LoLu~~

*Those lyrics are from a Within Temptation song called Empty Eyes. It should go without saying, but I don't own Within Temptation, nor the song Empty Eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Loke came to a halt, falling still to listen and scent the air carefully, just as he'd been doing since following after Delenn. He'd come across several places with dark magic pitfalls and had managed to avoid them as he'd slowly stalked his prey, but he was well aware that the rest of Lucy's team hadn't been so lucky. One of them had triggered a trap, and he'd felt them all disappearing and then popping back up in widely scattered directions.

He'd also run into two men who he hadn't seen before, which meant that there were more crooks in the gang than had attacked the train, and that they were now gathered here, as well. They hadn't been of any better prowess than the rest of their friends, though – to Loke's disappointment. He cracked his knuckles with a rather terrible grin, the very hungry beast inside looking out through still slit-pupiled, golden eyes as he once more picked up the dark mage's scent and strode silently after it.

A few minutes later he paused again for a split second and his eyes narrowed. _Erza... So he's found her, huh? Lucy must be fighting one of the others now. Damn._ Hunt interrupted by necessity, the lion took off at a run. His friend was a formidable mage, but she was human, and therefore most likely just as susceptible to Marionette as his mistress had been. He was the only one that wasn't, since he was a spirit and human manipulation-type magic didn't work on him.

 _Hmm..._

This seemed rather like that time on Tenroujima when they'd gone against the dark mage that had possessed Capricorn, come to think of it. That particular form of possession magic _had_ worked on spirits, though. He'd momentarily found that out for himself back then, and he could only be grateful that Marionette didn't. He remembered quite clearly those endless-seeming moments spent thrust aside in his own body, and the mind-numbing terror he'd felt at hearing Zoldeo's thoughts in regards the celestial mage and what he was going to do to her. It had been even worse for him because it was his own body that would have been used to rape and murder his mistress. For the first time _ever_ in his eons-long existence, he'd wished someone would kill him immediately – he'd rather death any day of the week than to be used to hurt Lucy.

It was just fortunate for him that he'd always been quick on his feet, and as soon as Zoldeo had begun his takeover, he'd sent his light-based power into Capricorn so that _he_ could then use it to force the human mage's possession right back out.

 _That's what they want me to do to Lucy,_ he scowled as he ran. _But they don't know what they're asking._

The blow it had taken to cast Zoldeo from him had hurt tremendously, and left even him weakened and in need of healing time in the spirit world. To turn the amount of power that would be needed to chase Marionette, which was a stronger magic than what Zoldeo had used, out of _any_ human would most likely be fatal to that person. There had to be another way. There simply had to be.

A noise from off to his right gave him only a split-second of warning.

He skidded to a halt and then dove to the left as a low stone parapet on the other side exploded outward in a shower of mortar and ancient rock, then rolled up into a crouch to glance rapidly around for whatever it was that had been blown through the old tower-wall.

Laying face down only fifteen feet or so away was Delenn, but before he could pounce on the man, his attention was drawn to Erza as she stepped through the still-settling dust and stalked deliberately towards the dark mage, though she paused when she caught sight of him gaping at her.

"What the hell _is_ that?" Loke asked in awe, indicating her impressive-looking... armor.

 _It's rather_ _revealing up top_ , he couldn't help but notice. _It's also consuming her magic at an incredible rate. How can she even wear that? And... why is she wearing it?_

"Nakagami armor," she answered absently as she continued towards the now-groaning dark mage. "While I'm wearing it, he can't use Marionette against me – or any other type of magic, for that matter. I can just cut right through it."

The lion blinked bemusedly as he stood, eyeing her up and down once more. _Nakagami armor...? That's... Nakagami armor?_ He'd heard of it, of course. A legendary mail, only the strongest of mages could even put it on let alone actually use it, and most never even dared to try. And that his friend had the power and confidence to not only try it on but buy and _use_ it just left him stunned. He'd always known she was strong, but holy _stars_ , that was just insane!

However, before he could think of anything to say or Erza could reach their enemy, five men ran into the square they were in from different directions, and Delenn took the opportunity handed to him, using the chaos to run yet again.

Loke cursed, getting frustrated with the bastard's cowardice, but neither he nor Erza could immediately follow, the five hoodlums going instantly on the attack.

It only took the two of them a few minutes to have the men taken down, but the dark mage was once again long-gone, and now the lion was going to be forced back to a slow hunt. He no longer found the thought entertaining, however; he wanted to finish the cur off and then concentrate on finding a way to free Lucy from the darkness tainting her beautiful soul. (And body, though who was listing _assets_ at a time like this? Not him.)

But it almost seemed as if Delenn was only trying to delay them now so he could just escape and get completely away, and Loke couldn't allow that. His eyes sharpened as he extended his senses around him, and then he frowned. _Or is he...? He's heading for my princess again, the scumbag._

"Hey, Erza?" he asked as she stepped up behind him and requipped back into her usual half-mail.

"Yes?"

"Did Master Makarov say how close that prick has to stay to Lucy to maintain his control of her?"

She shook her head. "No, he just said 'relatively' close."

The lion groaned and shot her a _look_. "That's such a _relative_ _answer,_ " he sighed, disgruntled. "I was really hoping for a more... literal one."

The redhead couldn't help the small chuckle his irritated pun teased from her, and she glanced dryly at him, but a calm, "Let's go," was all she said as she stepped over the unconscious men at her feet and headed in the direction he could feel his mistress was in.

How Erza was even still on her feet after wearing that crazy Nakagami armor he had no idea, but he followed without protest, though he kept his senses open and on the lookout for any trace of Delenn. The fact that the cretin was still breathing was really getting on his last nerve, and the first chance he was handed he was going to remedy that. It was only a matter of time... sooner or later the dark mage would trip himself up, and Loke had every intention of being there when he did.

"Don't think so hard," the requip mage said over her shoulder, and the lion looked back at her, a little confused.

"What?"

"I can hear your vengeful thoughts from here. Don't think so hard," she repeated, before looking forward again.

"Are you going to try to stop me?" he inquired almost conversationally. If she knew what he was thinking, then she knew what he was going to do to Delenn. _Would_ she try to stop him from killing the blackguard?

"Can you _be_ stopped?" she asked in return. He could hear the curiosity in her voice, and something else he couldn't quite place.

"No." The answer was clipped and unequivocal.

Titania chuckled, still striding easily across the ground. "Then I won't try to stop you. I'm not fond of wasting my time trying to fight absolutes."

Now _that_ surprised Loke. He was well aware that Fairy Tail didn't kill unless there was no other choice. So that Erza was willing to let him do so to someone whether there was a choice or _not_ was... unexpected.

"Besides," she added casually, "these guys will end up being executed anyway, so I don't really see that it matters exactly who does the deed in this case. Dead is dead."

 _I suppose I have to give her that one,_ the lion thought with an inward shrug. _Erza always was the pragmatic one out of the group, wasn't she?_

Surprisingly enough, it would probably be the two guys on the team that would have the biggest problem with what he was planning. Not that he cared, really, but it was an interesting switch.

It was only his cat-like reflexes that saved them. One moment they'd been walking along unimpeded, and the next another magic circle had opened on the ground before them – though this time, instead of them being sucked _in_ , sharpened steel spikes erupted from inside the circle and flew _outward_. He'd felt the magic begin to swell and reacted instantaneously, leaping forward and grabbing Erza before tucking her protectively into his body as he rolled away from the blackened circle.

It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Loke exhaled in a rush. _Fuck! That was wayyy too close!_ "You know," he said nonchalantly, as though they hadn't almost been impaled, "the longer we're here, the more I hate that bloody prick. I am _really_ going to hurt him before I kill him..."

"I believe I'd like to help you with that," Erza replied as she sighed and then sat up. After a moment she looked down at him where he still lay on the ground, his ginger mane looking rather frazzled and his usually immaculate suit now torn and dirty, and smiled. "Thanks, Loke."

He smiled back, then winked playfully at her. "Not a problem, beautiful."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, then reached a hand down to help him up. "Keep the flirting to Lucy. I don't want to have to break your jaw again."

"Yeah, I think I could do without that, too," he winced with the memory as she tugged him easily back to his feet. "My poor, abused jaw still pops and cracks sometimes."

"And yet that never seems to stop you, does it?"

But Loke's attention was no longer on the byplay, as sounds of combat suddenly drew near. And then he looked up and lifted a hand in greeting to the duo that came sweeping in from above. "Glad to see you're okay, Wendy. And I see you found Natsu," he added wryly as the noise came closer. "So who's he fighting?"

"Two men that jumped out at him a minute ago," the teenaged blunette answered. "Natsu-san seems to be having fun beating them up."

"I'm sure he is," Erza replied. "So the only one left to find now is Gray."

"That must be who Lucy-san is fighting, then," Charle said, looking off in a different direction than Natsu was approaching from. "We weren't sure who was where after that trap opened up beneath us."

"We still don't know where Happy is, either," Wendy pointed out.

"Happy'll find us, don't worry," Natsu piped up as he came into sight, looking quite pleased with himself as he dusted his hands off. Then he wrinkled his nose. "It felt good to pound those guys, but at the same time it was kinda disappointing – they really suck."

Loke snorted. "I could have told you that," he returned. "Like I said last night, they're nothing more than a group of low-life's with little skill in anything more than bullying those too weak to fight back." He straightened and glanced back up at the still-hovering white Exceed and sky dragon-slayer, his face going serious again. "Can you see where Lucy's at?" he asked. "I can feel her, but I'd really like for someone to have a visual on her position, as well."

Both Charle and Wendy nodded. "We're a lot closer now than when we found Natsu-san. They're that way," the teen replied, pointing.

Eyes once more grim and focused, the lion nodded. That agreed with what he was feeling from the bond with his princess. "Then let's get moving again. But be careful," he cautioned suddenly. "Those booby traps aren't just the type to send you other places – at least some of them are set to kill."

Natsu cocked a brow as he looked around and realized what the ginger-haired man was talking about. "Damn. These guys really aren't playing, are they?" He looked at Wendy gravely. "You should definitely stay up there where it's safe."

"It's not safe _enough_ ," Erza emphasized as she pointed out the angles at which the steel spikes were sticking up out of the surrounding landscape. They had been expelled from the magic circle with such force that they had been buried into the ground, cleaved through trees, and some were even embedded in various stones, several of which had actually shattered from the force of the impact. "So don't let your guard down."

No one said anything to that, and once again Loke took the lead, since his senses were the best besides Natsu's, and he was the only one that could actually feel Lucy. The rest trailed after him, with Charle still carrying Wendy a little above the ground, and Natsu bringing up the rear just in case someone tried to sneak up from behind the group. The fire dragon-slayer would be a nasty surprise for anyone that did.

Happy found them a few minutes later, though he looked a little the worse for wear.

"What happened to you?" Natsu asked as the little blue cat alighted wearily on his shoulder and sort of just slumped there.

"Well, when those magic circles opened up and sucked me in, one of the bad guys that you'd been fighting kinda got pulled in, too. So when we were dropped wherever that was, he kept trying to attack me. I've been trying to find you guys while sorta fighting that jerk."

The fire mage scowled and stopped walking, punching one fist into the other as the rest of the team also came to a halt – though Loke looked impatient at the new delay. "Where's the bastard at? I'll teach him a lesson!"

At that, Happy preened and looked mighty pleased with himself. He didn't miss the opportunity to cast a surreptitious glance at Charle, though. He hoped she was really impressed... "Oh, don't worry about him. I finally dropped a rock on his head, and he's taking a nice long nap that way somewhere," he pointed. "It was a pretty big rock, too. It was even heavier than Lucy!"

Loke scowled at that little tidbit. "My princess barely weighs anything, so don't talk about her that way," he snapped, then turned and stalked off. "You all can stand here if you want, but I'm out of here. I'm done with this mess - it's time to end it and take my mistress back," he tossed over his shoulder as he disappeared around an old, broken down fountain in what looked to have once been a small park.

"Oi!" Natsu shouted, "chill the hell out, Loke! Happy always teases Lucy like that, he isn't really insulting her and you know it!"

Erza, who'd been a silent observer up to that point, just shook her head at the dragon-slayer and his Exceed partner. "Yes, he does. But he's scared to death for her sake, and now really isn't the time for such 'teasing'," she chided sternly, before motioning for them to follow after the angry celestial spirit.

After that it fell silent again, and the group hurried a little to catch up with the lion. It wasn't like they had much further to go, anyway – they were getting very close to Lucy's position, now. There was even plenty of evidence that she'd already battled through this area, because remnants of Gray's ice were scattered around and there was a lot of destruction to the already messy ruins. The group turned the corner around the remains of an old cottage and almost piled into Loke's back – he'd come to a halt, his eyes locked on the blonde woman standing atop the remains of a stone-and-wood roof a little ways away. She was busy flinging bright spheres of power at her opponent.

Gray was still out-of-sight, but that wouldn't last for long as the battle between the two moved closer, and the spirit turned and motioned the rest of the group back before they could be seen. "We need to hide until we can see what's happening. Delenn's probably close by, and I bet his brother is, too – unless one of you ran into him already and took him out of the equation," he said as everyone moved quickly back and into the remains of the cottage they'd just passed. There wasn't much left of it, but it would hide them well enough for the moment.

Once they were inside Charle cautiously set Wendy down. "Well, we didn't," the blunette murmured.

The others denied meeting up with Olvar, as well, and Loke nodded, pleased. "Good. Because he's mine, too."

Erza cocked a reproving brow at the now nervously-pacing lion spirit. "If you were going to take them all out yourself, why did you bother taking the time to come get the team? Don't be greedy. I believe I speak for all of us when I say you aren't the only one that wants to make these bastards pay."

Loke growled, but then he sighed and swept a hand through his spiky locks and looked apologetic. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just... Lucy, she-"

He was interrupted by her hand coming down on his shoulder and her sympathetic expression. "We understand how you feel because we all feel the same way. They've hurt our nakama, and you know how we view things like that. Now, we should be deciding what we're going to do. I'm betting Delenn isn't far away, though I'm thinking he's going to try to stay out of sight." She smiled wryly at Loke. "You, at least, have terrified him to death, and he's going to do everything he can to keep away from you."

"It won't do him any good," the spirit said flatly.

"It won't do any of them any good," Natsu interjected with an evil grin. "Well, any of those that are still awake and moving around, anyway. We've knocked out quite a few of them already."

"But we don't know how many there were all together," Charle cautioned primly. "So we can't be sure there aren't a lot more out there."

"Then bring them on," the fire mage only grinned wider, a toothy grin with sharp canines glinting just like the lion's, as he bared them in agreement with Natsu's words.

Happy agreed with a raised paw and an enthusiastic but fortunately low-voiced, "Aye!"

Erza shook her head. "You boys," she sighed in exasperation, then looked at Loke. "You know we're going to have to separate out again, right? Those two are about to come through here, and when they do, we should probably scatter a little." When no one said anything, she continued. "Wendy, you and I will go help Gray with Lucy. Natsu, you and Happy-"

"You know, I just thought of it, but where the hell is that other mage – the one that was on the train?" Loke interrupted, narrowed eyes lifting to meet Titania's. "I haven't seen him at all, but he's got to be here somewhere."

"Another mage?" Natsu asked, looking excited. "Well, me and Happy can look out for him and any other bastards that try to interfere. Was he strong?"

A scoff met his inquiry. "No," the ginger-haired spirit replied. "He was pretty weak, maybe a little better than the ones who aren't mages. But he could still be a threat. Maybe that's why we haven't seen him – Delenn's planning something and needs that guy to take us by surprise."

"If he's around, me and Happy'll find him," the pink-haired teen grinned.

Just then, a loud crash sounded from just the other side of the old lane that passed in front of their hiding place, and they knew time was up. Gray and Lucy had finally found them, and as ice erupted from the ground and then shattered loudly, the group all glanced once more at each other and then scattered.

Erza darted out of their hiding place and leaped smoothly into the fray between the two, catching Lucy's whip around her sword and then yanking, which pulled the possessed celestial mage down and into the ground. That gave the the ice-make wizard a few moments of a breather and allowed Natsu and Happy to disappear, as well.

But with her mind shut off Lucy couldn't feel any pain, and she was instantly back on her feet as she flicked her wrist and untangled the whip from the warrior mage's weapon. She stopped then, and simply stood there staring silently at those who'd interrupted her battle, no recognition in her dulled eyes whatsoever.

"It's about damn time!" Gray yelled Erza's direction as he came to rest back on the ground in a crouch, looking a little the worse for wear. "Where the hell have you guys been, and where's Loke?"

The ice mage had seen the group scatter and knew that Natsu had flown off with Happy, probably checking the perimeter of the fight with Lucy to see if he could catch any of the gang that might still be around. Wendy and Erza were standing in plain sight now, of course, but the celestial spirit wasn't anywhere to be seen, and that fact actually made him a little nervous.

"Loke's fine," was all she said in reply, though she shot him a sharp glance that he knew meant he shouldn't continue on with that line of questioning. "And we've been trying to make our way back, but there were some... complications, and we had to move slowly, as I'm sure you're aware."

Gray just grunted, since there wasn't really much he could say to that. "So what's the plan?"

"It's pretty much the same as it was before," Erza returned. "Although..." she trailed off and then whirled around and batted a piece of stone away as something blew through the wall of the cottage they'd just been hiding in and sent rocks flying in every direction. "Looks like we're all going to be fighting in closer proximity than we'd wanted!" she shouted as she rolled forward and then back to her feet as more debris flew past.

A man's body rolled through the destroyed wall and came to rest against the remains of what had once been a stone and wood fence around the little dwelling, and Natsu followed just behind, stalking through a cloud of dust after his victim. The group blinked almost in unison; the slayer was dragging another man behind him and his eyes were on fire. That hadn't taken long...

There was no chance to say anything, however, as Lucy chose that moment to attack again, and soon everyone was busy with their own fights as there were suddenly a lot more bandits converging on them, even Wendy and Charle being forced to throw down with the bastards.

Loke was still missing from the scene though, and no one had any idea where he'd disappeared to.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

A silent snarl crossing his face, Loke punched the man who'd intercepted him with probably much more force than was really necessary, sending him flying. When he landed, almost thirty feet away, he was already unconscious from the heavy blow - but that fact didn't soothe the lion's frustration in any way whatsoever.

He could smell the bastard wizard responsible for this whole mess somewhere nearby, but there was so much dust in the air from the fighting that he couldn't get a scent lock on the man. And since he was indeed staying rather close to Lucy at this point, it wasn't going to get any easier. At the moment it was looking like the only way he was going to find the cur was sheer luck, and that possibility didn't improve his deteriorating temper at all. He was running out of time and needed to take the wizard down soon, for Lucy's sake.

After a few minutes of once more trying to scent out Delenn and listening for any sounds in the immediate vicinity, he slunk further along his predetermined path before coming to a halt again. This time he looked up, and golden cat eyes blinked lazily as he took in the avenue of ancient trees spiraling out to encompass quite a large area.

 _That does look promising..._

With a smirk he dashed towards the nearest one, and with a surprisingly high leap landed on a thick branch halfway up the tall tree. Lean form nimbly darting higher through a tangle of branches, Loke finally alighted near the top of the aged topiary and began scanning the grounds within eyesight of his perch. Not seeing anything from there after a few minutes, he once more began springing from limb to limb until he was in another tree a little further out, and again overlooked the area.

It took about half an hour and eleven more trees before he finally found what he was looking for. A menacing grin took his face, and the dark look in his eyes only made him seem all the more dangerous, the inherent bloodlust of the predator evident in him now in a way it had never been before.

 _So much for sheer luck. You're mine now, you wretched coward - you aren't getting the chance to run away again._

Creeping silently but fairly swiftly through the canopy, he got as close to his target as possible before jumping down onto feet so light that the dark mage hiding almost directly in front of him didn't hear a thing.

By the time he did it was too late, and Loke was upon him.

Taking Delenn down violently, the lion began pummeling the hell out of him, not giving him any chance to escape or even fight back through the endless rain of terrifying blows.

All his pent up frustration and aggression poured out, and he continued pounding the man into the ground without even using his power, just wanting to get as much pain from the piece of shit as he could before putting him out of his misery.

"You should never have dared to lay your hands on my mistress, you damned bloody bastard," he growled with savage pleasure as he heard a cracking sound from the mage's neck, and Delenn cried out in pain. "You would have lived a lot longer that way than you're going to now. And you're just lucky I'm not dragging this out more – but Lucy comes first and I need you out of the way, so your death will be a lot quicker than I'd originally planned."

Little more than half-conscious, and only awake at all because Loke had made sure he would be, the man managed to get a hand up and wrap it in his shirt. "D-don't... pat... yourself on the... back too... soon," the dark mage managed to rasp defiantly. His hand clenched spasmodically, tightening down on the spirit's shirt and tie and he grinned, blood dripping from his mouth.

Not sure what the fool was trying to do at first, a vicious snarl crossed the lion's face when he felt Delenn's darkness start to manifest, and without any thought he reacted.

He smashed his fist into the other man's throat and snarled, "Regulus Rising!" Light poured from his balled fist and a brilliantly glowing magic circle opened beneath them, and the ginger-haired spirit's luminescent power began burning its way through the other man's flesh from the front and back. He convulsed, his eyes wide with shock, before disappearing into the blazing golden light with a tortured scream.

Loke didn't move for some minutes after, just crouched there as he panted and pulled himself back from the brink. Finally, though, he regained enough of himself to stand. He absently readjusted his tie where it had been wrenched askew by Delenn's grip, despite the fact that his clothes were already entirely ruined, and then headed back towards Lucy and their friends.

He could no longer hear sounds of magic-based combat, but that wasn't so surprising. Since the one controlling her was now dead, Lucy would have collapsed. The thought that she would seem like little better than a dead body, laying in the dirt like a child's doll that had been dropped with no care, made him sick. He picked up his pace. The sooner they could get her out of here and back to the guild, where he could then begin trying to figure out how to _safely_ erase the dark magic from within her, the better.

It didn't take him long to find Team Natsu – the high levels of destruction surrounding them gave them away every time. It was just a good thing that this place was already in ruins and no one would care if someone made it worse. When he arrived in the center of the mess, he found himself in front of what looked to have once been a small cathedral. Inside, the team was standing around the remains of an old altar, where they'd placed Lucy.

He grimaced. _At least she's not in the dirt..._

Approaching slowly, almost reluctant to see her so inert, Loke had to choke back tears as he took in her state. Bloody and bruised, she lay unmoving save for breathing, and his heart clenched. But even worse for him, he could see the dark energy writhing inside her and practically spilling from her skin. It was a sick, black taint on the purity of her soul. The horrific sight dropped him to his knees at her side.

He started to reach out to touch her, then hesitated. "Lucy," he whispered in anguish. "I should never have left you alone yesterday, I had such a bad feeling about it. This is... my fault. Oh, stars, this is _my_ fault. I'm _so_ sorry. I swore to protect you, and instead I failed you."

"You can't take responsibility for this, Loke," Erza said, moving to stand next to him. She looked down at her golden-haired friend, her mouth a straight, grim line across her face. "Lucy asked you to go back to the spirit world, and you did as she asked. _You_ didn't attack her. Lay the blame where it belongs – on Delenn." She glanced at him. "His brother?"

The celestial spirit shook his head, though his eyes never left his mistress. "Didn't come across him. Or that other mage. But there's no time to worry about them right now," the lion replied, slowly getting to his feet again. "We need to get her back to the guild."

"Actually-" the red-haired mage eyed him speculatively, then continued, "-you're right. There's no time. Master pulled me aside last night while you guys were loading the carriage. He told me that if the dark magic isn't expelled from Lucy as soon as possible, we will lose her. If it's left inside her too long, eventually her soul will withdraw so far trying to escape from it that it won't be able to return. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what will happen then."

Beginning to feel panic grasping at his heart and clenching his lungs, he turned and faced the rest of the group. They all had sympathetic, yet resolute expressions, _but they didn't know what they were asking him to do!_ They didn't understand! Feeling increasingly backed into a corner, he lashed out.

"No! I can't... can't do what you're asking, not to Lucy. _Dammit!_ I can't hurt her!" Loke roared, dropping into a crouch and punching the floor with a glowing fist. He didn't even blink when several of the thick, large stones buckled beneath the heavy blow. " _You don't know what you're asking_!"

"I believe in you, Loke-san," Wendy said a little timidly from the back of the group. Everyone except the lion turned to look at her as soon as her voice registered on them. "You can do this. I know it. You can save Lucy-san, just like you always do. This time, you're the only one who can."

"Dammit _._.." the lion choked weakly as a heavy sense of inevitability settled over him. He punched at a section of floor again, though this time there was no real force in his blow, and he just left his fist pressed against the ground as he braced himself there. The others were astonished to see tears begin to roll down his cheeks from the once-more hazel eyes hidden behind his unruly bangs, and his rigidly gritted teeth clenched his jaw so hard it looked painful. After a moment, he managed to relax it just enough to say, "You're asking me to kill her," dully.

"She's already dead, like this," Natsu spoke up softly, not looking at any of them, instead staring at the sunlight outside with far-away eyes. "And if you don't do what Gramps said, she'll be gone forever. At least with your magic to chase away the darkness she has a chance. If you keep chickening out, though, she doesn't. It'll be all over."

His meaning was brutally clear even as the young man delivered the words almost gently, and Loke had never hated speech more than he did in that moment, because he couldn't deny that the pink-haired maniac was right.

The realization was like ashes in his mouth, bitter and cloying.

"Get out."

All of the group stared at him, their mouths hanging open - except Erza, who just looked on him with sad empathy. His manner inadvertently softened, though he turned his head away and refused to meet her understanding gaze. It hurt too much.

"Wait outside. Just... wait outside." He hadn't intended it, but his voice came out pleading rather than forceful, and he winced.

"Why are you freaking out so damn bad, man?" Gray finally asked, staring dubiously at Loke. In all the time he'd known the other mage, he'd never seen him lose his cool to this degree. Not over anything or anyone. He knew his friend cared about Lucy, just as they all did, but _this_ reaction...

" _Because I love her, you oblivious bastard!_ I don't want to lose her!" the lion roared, tears still on his cheeks as he tilted his head just enough to glare at the now-definitely stunned wizard through one redly-enraged eye. "And this is a one-in-a- _hundred_ chance."

A low growl ripped from his throat as everything that could go wrong played out in full color behind his eyes, and he clenched them closed in reaction, trying to chase the hellish visions away.

"If Lucy... if she... you'd better all run as fast as you can and get the hell away from this place, because I'll go supernova, and there won't be much but a several-mile wide crater left behind when I do. I don't want to be responsible for your deaths." He opened his eyes again and stood up from his crouch, taking his cracked sunglasses off. Clenching his fist, he crushed them into tiny pieces before letting them fall, then wiped the tears from his face. His eyes were flat, cold, and hard – the gaze of a dangerous and very _angry_ predator. "Remember what I told you and keep it firmly in mind. Now get out."

"How are we supposed to know if that happens if we're outside?" Natsu challenged, though he eyed the lion warily the whole time.

Loke didn't even bat an eyelash at the question. "Oh, you'll know," he said in an ominous tone. "You'll know."

"But-"

He never got past that one word, Titania grabbing him by his ever-present scarf and cutting off whatever it was he'd been about to say. Then she motioned to the others, and they all began to head out of the ruined edifice obediently.

Loke couldn't have been more grateful, because he was right on the edge of losing it, and he didn't want them to see that – especially Wendy. He met the weighing gaze the redhead turned on him this time, and she nodded after a moment. She didn't say anything, simply following the others out with Natsu still in tow. _Graceful Erza. Always so clear-sighted and insightful into other people's pain. I'll have to find a way to thank her after this is over... if I survive._

 _If Lucy survives._

Once the others were out of sight, he turned back and looked at his mistress. The beast inside prowled anxiously just under his skin, and his eyes changed again in reaction as he stared at her. _Beautiful celestial maiden,_ he thought after a moment. _There's nothing in any realm that even begins to compare. Your heart is so big and loving... it would be a crime to let you fade away._

"I hope you can forgive me someday for what I'm about to do," he rasped softly. "But just know that if you don't... don't survive, I'll be right behind you, even in death. We're a team, right? Partners... nakama. And if you decide you hate me when we get to the other side, then I'll accept that as just punishment for failing to save you. Even if it breaks my heart-" he choked himself off as tears welled up again in forlorn golden eyes.

Unable to speak anymore through the sheer emotion clogging his throat, Loke stepped forward and scooped the small blonde woman into his arms. Then he turned and sat on the ground with his back to the altar, and settled her gently in his lap as comfortably as possible. Once he had her where he wanted her, he looked at her still face, and tenderly brushed a lock of soft hair back over her shoulder.

He inhaled deeply to steady himself, beginning to gather in his power. It was now or never.

Clenching his eyes shut, he let his head fall forward and whispered, "Regulus:Lionheart."

Immediately beneath them a magic circle opened up; though it was small, it was glowing a bright crimson like fresh blood, and it pulsed as if it were itself a beating heart. Ever so slowly it grew in size, the pulsing getting stronger as it did, until it was an actual forceful presence in the broken remains of the once-cathedral.

"I hope this will help protect you at least somewhat," he said as the red light grew around them, then gritted his teeth as he forced a spell that he wouldn't normally be using – she would. It took a few, but eventually the light got so bright that they were completely obscured by it for several seconds. When it faded, Lucy was wearing her Leo stardress, and he'd broken into a cold sweat from the effort.

But he'd do it a million times over if it meant saving her. He hoped the stardress would work to assist him in protecting her even while he purged the darkness from her. If it could fine tune his control just that little bit more and link them more strongly together for this, it might mean the difference between life and death for his mistress. He couldn't ask for anything more.

He opened his eyes again and stared down at her, devouring her face desperately. He'd run out of time, and he was terrified. He couldn't even breathe.

 _I can't let myself panic, that way only lies disaster. I have to concentrate. Nothing can be allowed to get in the way of saving Lucy. Not even my fear._

 _But..._

Tilting his head down, he whispered into her ear, "I love you, Princess. I had to tell you, just in case. I hope you can hear me, at least on some level," and then, with a deep sigh, he sat back up. After a last moment of staring at her beloved little face, he began slowly sending his heart's red light into her _through_ the stardress.

Warm tendrils of his power began seeping into her body, slowly overtaking the darkness hiding within. It was a measured assault, a gentle incursion that nonetheless did not fail to be as painful as he'd known it would be. His heart cracked just that little bit more as her body arched in agony, though she didn't make a sound, and more tears slipped down his cheeks. In that moment his heart was in his eyes, and the anguish in it at what he was being forced to do was clearly visible. He didn't allow that to stop him, however, continuing to feed the power of all the stars in his constellation through her. That was what Regulus:Lionheart did – gathered power from all the stars in Leo, and then funneled it through his heart system and thus into him.

It was his ultimate power... something he'd almost never used.

His arms tightened around Lucy's body as she writhed in unvoiced torment, and he hoped with all his heart that she wouldn't remember this, even if that meant her not remembering his words of love. He'd rather that, than her have any memory of enduring such pain.

As silent tears began to fall from her closed eyes, his heart fractured even more.

 _I would take it all for you if I could, mistress. Please just hold on a bit longer, the darkness is almost gone!_

He leaned his head against her, his nose brushing hers as his own tears joined hers on her skin, and he lifted a hand to run his fingers over her cheeks in an ethereal caress that still managed to hold all the love and devotion he was capable of. He swept his lips across her cheekbone, only barely grazing her flesh in a wistful attempt to soothe her. Her vivid pain was tearing a hole in his psyche, one that would probably never fully heal. This day would definitely leave scars behind, even if they survived it.

"Just a little more," he managed to say aloud. " _Please_ don't let go, Lucy. Hold onto me and I will guide you through the storm."

More exhausted than he could ever remember being, Loke pushed through it with fierce determination. He couldn't allow his weariness to cause him to lose the woman in his arms, and he gritted his teeth as he forced the flow of power ever tighter, eyes falling closed as both of them faded from sight, completely enveloped in the blinding heat of his celestial radiance.

To the worried group outside, who had all been watching through holes in the tumbled walls, it appeared as though a red sun was rising inside the cathedral. It was probably the most holy event the ancient edifice had ever witnessed, and as the glowing forms of their friends disappeared into its searing brilliance, they were all forced to close their eyes and hide their faces from it.

It was in _that moment_ that they all finally understood just what Loke really was. Sure, they knew he was a celestial spirit, the representation of the zodiac lion, but those were just words... and they had never truly sunk _in_.

Now, though, the truth was literally blazing right in their faces, and every single one of them were left speechless and overtaken by awe.

And inside the cathedral light continued to bleed outward, only growing in intensity...

~~LoLu~~

 _There! The end of it!_

With a desperate push, Loke flung the last of his strength into one final assault on the dark magic trying to burrow itself deep into Lucy's soul. Within the eye of the storm, crimson and gold light twisted violently together as the lion poured the rest of his heart into the battle. With careful precision, he guided the light after the fleeing darkness, mercilessly chasing and purging it from the stellar mage bit by bit.

The girl held so tightly against him thrashed violently, her body still arched in an agonized, silent scream as the magic seared at her, burning away the encroaching darkness. Loke threw his head back with a roar, and with an explosion of energy so vast it almost seemed as though it were impossible, the entire interior of the cathedral and most of its surroundings was filled with light. It was like the entire Regulus system itself had descended into that ancient place.

Every last bit of darkness still inside the girl in his arms dissipated, scorched away by the incandescence that was the stellar lion. Under that surge she stiffened for endless-seeming seconds, her body battered and weakened. And then she slumped down in his lap, the dark magic gone, and he let his power go.

The blazing red light died down as quickly as he'd called it up, and then darkness overcame Loke and he slumped over Lucy, drained and unconscious.

But even unaware as he was, he didn't let go his protective hold on his mistress, and to the awed and distressed group of friends left to run inside after the magic had dissipated, it was now more than clear that he really did love the celestial mage. He'd given everything he had to give, his very heart's most powerful magic, and then more besides - all to save her. You didn't go so far for anything less than the most sacred of loves.

Gray was the first to reach the entwined couple, and he knelt before them, then hesitantly reached out to move Loke's arms so that they could examine the both of them. But the lion fought him, even in his deep sleep. The ice mage sighed.

"Come on, man, you've got to let go so we can take care of her. You did your part, now it's our turn. And we need to help you, too... 'cause you don't look too good, either. Just let go – we've got you guys."

By the time Erza and the others neared, Gray already had Lucy in his arms and was laying her back on the altar so that they could check her over. "Wendy!" he called urgently. "I don't think she's breathing - hurry!"

The young girl ran forward, stepping carefully around Loke, though her attention didn't waver for a second from her new patient.

"Come, Natsu, Happy," Erza began, reaching out with one arm and snagging both shocked and scared males in an iron fist. "You can do nothing to help Lucy right now. Let Wendy do what needs done in peace." Then she reached down and grabbed the lion, heaving him over her shoulder. "We will go over there-" she pointed, "-and lay Loke down. After _that_ , I don't think he's going to be moving on his own anytime in the next few hours. Maybe even days."

Natsu had been silent since telling the celestial spirit to basically get on with it earlier, and he followed Erza, cautiously eyeing the ginger-haired man all the while.

When they got to a distance from Wendy, Gray, and Charle that she felt comfortable with, Erza lowered the sleeping lion to the floor again, straightening him out as she went.

She watched the two working over the blonde for a moment - and the white exceed hovering over them - and then she sighed and sat down next to Loke.

"I didn't know he was so strong," Natsu said after a few minutes, time he'd spent staring at the lion with a new respect.

"He hides much of himself away," Erza agreed. "His facade is well-fitted and polished, but sometimes it crumbles. If you happen to catch those times, you begin to realize that he has depths that have never been plumbed. There's a sadness in him... I've seen it in his eyes. _He's_ seen too much. As old as he has to be," she shuddered, "I can't even imagine it. All the dreams, the losses, the people coming in and out of your life like butterflies flitting aimlessly around a meadow. Blink and they're dead and gone, and new butterflies are surrounding you. No... immortality is not for me."

The dragon-slayer joined her on the ground, looking contemplatively at her as he thought about her words. "Does the brevity of their life mean the butterflies aren't worth enjoying?"

The redhead looked struck; she stared at him as his words tumbled over and over through her mind.

 _Brevity? I didn't think Natsu would even know a word like that. But he's like Loke in one way, I suppose – there's a lot still hidden inside him. He has those same depths that our celestial friend there has, and we've only just begun to scratch the surface._

"Still," she murmured, looking down at Loke's strained face. He looked exhausted and disheveled, as though he'd just come through a war. "Immortality? I can't imagine it. The burden of such a thing... No... I'm glad I'm human and don't have to worry about that. "

Natsu shrugged. "I'll live as long as I live. I don't think about it. There's no point, right? If my life has proved anything, it's that even time can be manipulated." Then he let out a strange laugh. "I'm four hundred years old, if you want to get technical about it. I guess we dragon slayers are about as immortal as humans get."

"You aren't immortal," Happy snorted. "You cheated - you didn't live through those years."

Erza breathed a silent laugh. "He's got a point."

Gray's voice interrupted the conversation, and they all turned to look at the dark-haired man.

"She's breathing again... You did it, Wendy!"

The interior of the cathedral rang with happy shouts for the first time in hundreds of years as Team Natsu celebrated the victory.

They hadn't forgotten that the battle was only half over. But the rest of it was up to Lucy, and none of them could help her with it. They could only hope she'd find her way back to them. Still, they'd made it this far, and they believed in the blonde woman. They had faith in her, because they knew how tenacious she was inside, where it counted – where _this_ battle would take place.

She _would_ wake up. There was simply no other acceptable outcome.

~~LoLu~~

A/N: This chapter was a little difficult to write – not in words, but in emotion. I wanted to keep them all in character, but yet allow people to see into their thoughts and feelings a little. Especially Loke's. This was a very emotional chapter for him, and I hope I portrayed him believably through the whole thing. This is how I see him, though, and I won't apologize for that. That said, I hope everyone enjoys!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

" _Lucy!"_

Loke woke with a gasp, jackknifing up from where he'd been laying and looking around desperately. _Where am I...?_ The last he remembered, he was holding his mistress in his lap as he burned the darkness away from her. He gripped his head in his hands and clenched his eyes closed for a moment as he tried to calm his breathing. Once his heart and lungs had slowed in their panicked paces, he dropped his hands and opened his eyes to glance around again. _This looks like the infirmary at the guild._

"Are... are you okay?" a woman's voice asked almost timidly, and the lion immediately twisted around to see...

"Lucy!" His eyes devoured her as he looked her up and down, needing to know that she was in good health. She looked tired, sore, and a little hollow-eyed as she approached his bed, but she was bright and vibrant and _alive_ , to his eternal relief. He'd been so terrified... "You're alright?" he asked, needing to be sure.

"I'm fine, Loke, really," she smiled warmly. "From what I hear, that's thanks to you. You saved my life _again_. I don't know where I'd be without you." _I don't know where I'd be without you... ever._ But she didn't say _that_ aloud. No need to give away her surging feelings to the object of them. That would just be... too much to bear.

He looked only partially relieved at her declaration. "You don't... remember any of what happened, do you?"

She shook her head.

"That... that's good. I'm glad."

Lucy only looked confused by that. "Why?" _Did something... happen that he doesn't want me to know?_

"Because what I was forced to do to get the dark magic out of you-" he looked down, his eyes haunted by the memory of her suffering, "-it was painful. I... didn't want you to remember that. _I_ don't want to remember it," he added under his breath, "but I'll never let myself forget it." _It'll just make me even more ruthless in protecting her, so I don't ever have to_ _see_ _it again. That would be infinitely worse._

"Oh," she said in a small voice. Then she spoke again in a stronger tone. "Well, better that than dead, right? I mean it, Loke. You saved me yet again. I don't know how I'll _ever_ thank you for all the times you've come to my rescue."

Finally he gave her a small smile. It was still tainted by bad memories of what had happened, but it was at least partially true. "I have an idea about that," he huffed a laugh and winked at her, trying to brush his melancholy thoughts aside for her sake.

A dubious expression met that statement. "I'm not sure I want to know, with that look on your face."

"Oh, but it's such a small thing, Princess. Surely you can spare a single kiss for your loyal, battered knight."

A blush washed across her cheeks. "A kiss, hm?" she murmured. _Oh, how can I resist? This might be my only chance to touch such a beautiful man so intimately._

"I'm just kidding," he was quick to say, misunderstanding her reaction, though he couldn't help the disappointment he felt at the thought of not getting that kiss. "You don't have to, you know." He started to look away so she wouldn't see that discomfiture, but froze in shock as soft, slightly parted lips suddenly brushed slowly across his, lingering tenderly for several long moments. He gasped, his eyes wide, and stared at her in stunned amazement when she finally pulled away, her cheeks heavily flushed with heat. "Lucy," he whispered, unable to get any volume under his voice; she'd left him completely breathless... and he loved it.

If _this_ was the reward for not breathing, he could very happily go without air for the rest of his existence and never even notice the lack.

She giggled nervously and couldn't quite seem to meet his gaze. "Was that what you were looking for?" she tried to play it off.

He instantly shook his head. "Actually, no. _I_ just meant on the cheek, but I'm definitely _not_ complaining. I like your interpretation much, much better." He couldn't help the sly grin, and Lucy was thrilled to see that he seemed happier than he had a few minutes before.

"I bet you do," she rolled her eyes and grinned, "stupid playboy."

Loke just laughed and sent her an affectionate look, because this time that hadn't been said with any truly negative connotations. She was really just teasing him, and he enjoyed the hell out of it when she did that. It was time spent with her that was fun. He kind of lived for times like that, actually, though he was sure she didn't realize it. Then again, _any_ time spent with her was worlds better than without.

It fell quiet for a few moments as the two watched each other, and then both sobered at nearly the same instant.

"How long have I been asleep? And for that matter, how long have you been awake?"

Lucy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, um... I woke up this morning, but from what Natsu and the others said, today would be two and a half days since they brought us back to the guild. So I guess that means you've been asleep close to three days or so."

"That long?" he blinked in blank surprise.

"Yeah... I was starting to get scared," she replied. "But now that you're awake, you should go back to the spirit world to finish recuperating there. Staying here isn't allowing you to recover fully." She caught his anxious glance and sighed. "It's okay, you know. I won't be going on any jobs for a while – I still have plenty of money left to cover all my expenses for at least three or four more months, even after paying for the damages I caused to my old hometown. And that's not even considering the huge amount I'll be making from the sale of the estate, so you don't have to worry. Besides... I need some time to recover."

Loke had forgotten about the pending sale of her estate. He nodded, relieved. "Just... just promise me. If you do take a job, call for me, no matter what."

She hesitated, then agreed. "I promise." _That's no hardship. I always want to call him out on every job, even when I don't need to. I just wish... never mind,_ she thought with a rather disheartened sigh. _It's a moot point anyway, because he'll never feel the same. How could he? I'm mortal – and he's not._

Unaware of her thoughts, he winked at her once more, trying to get her to smile for him again before he left. "I'll hold you to that, Princess."

"Oh, just get going, you overgrown flirt," she chuckled, trying for his sake to cheer up, at least while he was right in front of her, and he grinned at her before slowly fading away.

Lucy stared at the place he'd disappeared, the smile falling off her face as a grimace of pain replaced it, instead. _Guess it worked... and just in time, too. I didn't want him to see me like this._ Keeping herself shielded from her guardian lion wasn't easy, but she didn't want to upset him any further, so it was a necessary precaution – and one she didn't begrudge. He worried for her enough as it was.

She slumped wearily a minute later as the pain receded again.

 _I'm worried... what's wrong with me? Why does it feel like I'm... on fire inside my own skin?_

~~LoLu~~

 **~Fifteen hours later in the spirit world~**

"What is wrong, Leo-sama?"

Loke glanced over at the one who'd spoken, then frowned as he looked away again. "I don't know," he finally answered the constellation of the sea goat. "Something feels... off."

"Is it Lucy-sama?" Capricorn asked. "You do seem to be very in-tune with her."

Now the lion's frown deepened. _Is it Lucy...?_ he wondered indecisively. _It doesn't feel quite the same... it's more muted than that bond usually is._ Then his eyes grew wide. _But if she were trying to block it off for some reason, it probably_ _would_ _feel like this._ "Maybe. Has she called for any of her spirits since yesterday?" He'd been back in the spirit world for about fourteen or fifteen hours by his reckoning, and not once had he heard a peep from their mistress. That didn't sound too bad – until you took into account that on Earthland, that equated out to about two months.

"No. But you did say that she told you she wouldn't need to work for some time. From what you explained about what happened yesterday, I would think she needed the time to heal from that," the goat responded.

"Maybe... but that wouldn't take two months mortal time," Loke disagreed. "It _could_ just be because she's perfectly fine and enjoying the chance to take it easy and work on her writing for a while, or... it could mean something else entirely."

"Perhaps you should give it a little more time."

The lion immediately shook his head. "No, I don't dare. Not after what happened before. I'm going to go check on her and make sure everything truly is okay." _I should have noticed how long it's been, but I was so tired I just crashed as soon as I hit my bed... I_ _still_ _feel a little tired, truthfully._

Capricorn inclined his head. "Please tell Lucy-sama that we all miss her, then."

Loke merely nodded absently, mind already in the mortal realm with their mistress as he faded out of the stellar one.

A brow rose into his bangs as the guild came into view, and he looked around for his owner. Not immediately seeing her, he walked up to the bar and waited for Mirajane or Lisanna to notice him. _If she's here, everything should be okay, right?_

He'd expected a smile and a pleasant greeting from the demon takeover mage when she saw him, not a worried rush to his side, and his insides immediately clenched with dread.

"Where's Lucy?"

When Mira only looked more worried, he knew his fears had been justified. "She's here..."

"Where?" he asked, brow furrowing in suspicion. _What the hell's going on?_

"In the infirmary," another voiced piped up, and the lion glanced down the bar at a tired-looking Cana.

Loke didn't wait for another second, turning and darting down the correct corridor. He came to an abrupt stop just before the doors as they opened and Erza, Gray, and Natsu exited, looking just as tired and drawn as Cana had. The three instantly halted at sight of him.

"Man, am I glad to see you," Gray breathed with relief. "We didn't have any way to reach you, and didn't understand why you hadn't already appeared, since you usually know what's going on with Lucy practically before she does."

"What's wrong?" Loke's voice quavered a little.

"We don't know. She just... collapsed one day over three weeks ago, and she hasn't woken up since," Erza answered, then turned and led the way back into the infirmary. "Come see her."

"Is it... is it something I missed somehow, some darkness from that bastard Delenn?" _Did I fail her... again?_

"Doubtful," Titania replied. "But we don't know for certain. Even Porlyusica doesn't know for sure what's wrong. All she'll say is that it's like Lucy's very makeup has somehow changed. But how, or why it's affecting her this way, we haven't been able to find out. Whatever it is, it's progressing faster now, though."

Just then, something dreadful occurred to Loke, and his stride hitched in reaction. "What ever happened to Delenn's brother, and that other mage? We never found them. Maybe it's something they did to her for revenge."

"Naw, we got those two before we left the ruins that day, but it was after you'd saved Lucy, and you were out like a light," Natsu said. "They were sent off for the king's justice, but were both killed a few days later trying to escape. So it definitely wasn't them."

By that time they'd come to the end of the room, and Loke's gaze was irresistibly drawn to his lodestone. The instant he caught sight of her, he rushed forward and dropped down into the chair next to her bed, momentarily misplacing their friends in the order of his thoughts.

He sighed. "Oh, Princess, what have you gotten yourself into, now? I just can't leave you alone, can I?" A despondent expression settled on his leonine features. "I never wanted to see you like this again, but the minute I... damn it all to hell, I'm _never_ going back to the spirit world again! Every time I do lately, something goes wrong."

"You can't stay out here forever, Loke," Cana chastised, and the lion looked up to see her just reaching the group around Lucy's bed. "What good would killing yourself do her?"

Before he could answer, an odd, dark shimmering yanked his attention back down to the woman laying in the bed so still and silent. But when his gaze landed on her he gaped, so totally shocked he couldn't even move as he watched her start to phase out, then finally stabilize after several long seconds. He was so stunned he almost didn't even hear the low moan of pain that came from the young woman's throat at the same time.

" _What in the hell?!"_ he whispered, wide, horrified eyes darting back over to the rest of their friends in question, unable to believe what they were telling him.

"We don't know, remember?" Gray reminded him. "None of us have ever seen anything like that."

There was a breathless pause, and then, "You may not have seen it before... but _I_ have," Loke managed to say, not taking his eyes off the blonde. "How often has it been happening?" He'd barely gotten it out before Lucy shimmered again, and that was all the answer he needed. Leaping to his feet in a panic, he threw back the blanket covering her and swung her up into his arms before she could even solidify once more.

"What the fuck are ya doin?!" Natsu yelled, though the others weren't quiet, either.

"There's no time to talk!" he barked over them, then began to shimmer himself. The last sight he had of the four people left standing in the room was of their disbelieving faces, before he was gone from Earthland...

And so was Lucy.

~LoLu~

The lion wasn't back in the celestial realm five seconds before every single one of the spirits that called her mistress were appearing in his bedroom, the sudden babble of voices sounding just like what he'd left behind in the guild infirmary – only louder.

"Quiet!" he shouted, before pushing his way through their _other_ friends to make his way towards his bed. "Virgo, pull the covers back," he ordered, and waited while the maiden complied. As soon as the blankets were out of his way he settled his burden gently into the bedding and then smoothed the covers over her.

"Leo-sama, why have you brought Lucy-sama here?" Capricorn asked, frowning at him. "She is mortal – she cannot stay in this place."

"And yet feel her energy. Does it seem the same as before?" he asked almost sarcastically. "Do you _really_ think I'd have brought her here just for the hell of it?"

"But then why is Princess unconscious?"

Loke glanced at Virgo. "She was already like that when I got through my gate. From what Erza said, she'd been this way for three weeks already and hadn't woken up once. No one knew what was wrong, but when I saw her... _I_ knew. I... I've experienced it myself," he finished in a low tone, raising a hand and looking at it with troubled eyes that had darkened with old pain.

The other spirits exchanged concerned glances.

"Experienced... what?" Scorpio asked.

"When I was trapped in the mortal realm," the lion began, still staring at the hand he'd now clenched into a fist, "I was dying, of course. As I got closer to the end, my energy would waver and I'd start to phase out of existence as the human world slowly killed me. That's exactly what was happening to Lucy when I got to the other side. And now she's here, and she's no longer vanishing..." he trailed off.

No need to say it, everyone had caught the inference.

"Miss Lucy's nice body was disappearing?" Taurus mooed in dismay, and Loke shot him a slightly perturbed glance... though he didn't say anything to the other spirit. Now was not the time for that kind of thing. Maybe later, though...

"Brother, what you are implying isn't possible," Virgo said, eyeing him with worry. "Princess is human."

He glared at her, shaken out of his preoccupation at her words. "Yet like I said, she's _here_ , isn't she? And it's not harming her in the slightest, in fact, she's getting better already – I can feel it, though it'll take a little while for her to recover fully. I don't know what the hell is going on, but somehow her energy is more like a spirit's right now than a human's. Until we figure this out, she can't go back there."

Silence fell as everyone stared at each other, nonplussed. Then they all looked at him expectantly.

Loke responded to those looks and said, "Crux, start researching. See if anything like this has ever happened before, and if so, what the outcome was," crisply.

The constellation of the Southern Cross bowed and then dozed off in a corner to follow the lion's directive.

"Virgo – I need something for her to drink. She'll probably wake up soon, and she's going to be thirsty. Something soothing for her throat. Aries, go find Seirei-o," Leo continued snapping out orders, "and don't come back without him in tow, got it?"

"Y-yes, brother," the ram spirit quailed. "I'm sorry!" She faded, and Loke sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. _That girl really needs to gain some backbone. I should get Aquarius to give her some assertiveness training, or something._

Yeah. That would work. Aquarius would inhale, and Aries would fall all over herself cringing and apologizing – and then run like hell.

He shook his head at his fanciful thoughts. _Moving on..._

"I will sit with Princess," Virgo volunteered as she popped back in, already finished with her errand. She placed the cup she was carrying down on the little table next to Loke's bed to cool while they waited for their mistress to wake.

Loke denied her right away. "No, you won't. This is my home and my bedroom, and _I'll_ be the one to sit with her."

"I can take Miss Lucy's nice body to _my_ home, and then _I_ can be the one to sit with her!" Taurus declared loudly. He was ready to fight for the privilege, too.

The leader of the zodiac had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from Regulus-punching the hormone-addled steer to the other side of the universe. "That's it, you're done," he growled, forcing Taurus back to his part of the galaxy and temporarily locking him in place there. (As leader and most powerful of the spirits next to Seirei-o he could do things like that, though he rarely did. The damn cow had been begging for it this time, however.) "Any of the rest of you want to push your luck?"

Scorpio glanced at Lucy, and then shook his head and looked back at him with some amusement. "No, I'm good. If something happens, though... I want to know. We all love her, too, Leo – Taurus and his antics notwithstanding."

Loke sighed again and forced a smile for his friend. "I know. If anything happens, you'll hear about it."

With that assurance Scorpio faded away with a jaunty salute, as did Cancer and Sagittarius. Virgo, however, was still there and eyeing him quite speculatively.

As was Capricorn.

"Do you really want to push me right now?" he asked them wearily as he went to sit down on the other side of the bed from his sleeping princess. "I'm not up for any inquisitiveness at this point. Come back some other time when I'm in the mood to chat."

The maiden folded her hands together primly. "Leo, is it really proper for you to have Princess settled here in your bed like this? She needs a chaperone. At least let Capricorn stay."

Leaping to his feet with a roar, Loke showed the beast inside with terrifying suddenness. " _How dare you question me in that manner!_ I would _never_ do anything to compromise Lucy in any way! She's not even conscious, and she's been gravely ill. What kind of depraved bastard do you take me for?!"

"I-"

"Leo is right, Virgo. You should not question him in such a way. He has more honor than to take advantage of an unconscious and ill woman," a huge voice cut her off, and was immediately followed by the ram's squeaked apologies for taking so long.

Loke passed a hand over his forehead and gritted his teeth. _Stars, I'm going to lose it!_ With a very deliberate inhale and then exhale, he said, "Thank you, Aries," with exaggerated patience. "Seirei-o," he stood and bowed, "Thank you for coming so quickly. Did she tell you anything of what's happened?"

The spirit king glanced at Lucy from under beetling brows, but shook his head. "She only said that our old friend needed my assistance, and then she practically dragged me here. But now that I am, I can see why you requested my presence. The celestial spirit mage Lucy Heartfilia has changed."

"Well, I can see that, but _why_ has she changed?" Loke asked in frustration.

Seirei-o crossed his huge arms, a frown on his brow as he pondered the matter, occasionally looking at Lucy weighingly. "Virgo, why did you give your mistress the Fleuve de' Etoiles?"

The pink-haired spirit looked a little surprised at the question, and it took her a moment to answer as she actually had to think about it. "Princess' energy was very compatible with that of the weapon," she finally replied. "In fact, it always seemed to me that they were nearly identical. So I thought she would be able to use it quite effectively, and she has. Was giving her the whip wrong, and if it was, will I be punished?"

"No. You may go, you as well, Capricorn," was all he said, looking thoughtful again and ignoring everything else for the moment.

The maiden looked curious, but after a glance at the young woman sleeping in the bed just behind them and then an enigmatic look at the lion, she obligingly vanished, as did the goat.

Loke himself had been struck dumb by what Virgo had just said, and he remembered his thoughts about Lucy – that her magic was different than anything he'd ever come across, but that it reminded him in some ways of a spirit's own. _What the hell...?_ He turned and looked at her where she lay unconscious in his bed, wondering for the first time what she really was. Was she _truly_ just a human girl? Just Lucy Heartfilia, celestial spirit mage...

Or something else entirely?


	9. Chapter 9

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 9**

~~LoLu~~

Thoughts scattered, worried, and confused, Loke stared at Lucy, only waking from his degenerating reverie when Seirei-o spoke again.

"Aquarius, attend me," he called, and the grouchy water-spirit appeared... _almost_ instantly.

"Yeah, I'm here," she said waspishly, though with less acid than she'd use for anyone else – except Scorpio. He was the _only_ one she didn't speak like that to, but Seirei-o could really care less how she sounded when she spoke, as long as she did. She was no threat to him.

"When you told our old friend to break your key and summon me, why did you leave your magic behind? As a human she should not have been able to use your power in so direct a manner, and you did not know that I would bestow the Aquarius star dress upon her."

Just as Virgo had, the water-bearer looked surprised by that line of questioning – for a moment, and then she was scowling again. (Though Loke hadn't missed her surreptitious peek at Lucy's still form.) "Che. She's always had a strange-feeling magic, reminded me of my own in some ways. It's not the same, but close. So I figured the little brat would be able to use it in that fight, and I didn't want to feel responsible for her death if she didn't win."

Leo snarled, a rather terrifying sound that echoed through the large room. "Do _not_ speak of my mistress that way again, Aquarius!" he snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously at her through his bangs.

For just a moment the tsundere spirit quailed at the furious look, but then she rallied her temper. She glared at him and folded her arms across her chest. "I've known her a lot longer than you have, even if she's not my mistress anymore, so I'll talk about her however I want!"

"Be silent, Aquarius," Seirei-o interjected before Loke could tear into her. "You should not speak of our old friend with such disrespect, nor should you challenge Leo over her, especially now. You may go."

Loke tried so hard, he really did, but he couldn't help the superior smirk that crossed his face as he watched the now truly sour-faced water spirit disappear. _That's what you get for speaking of Lucy that way. And especially as I know you don't really mean it. I saw the way you looked at her when you answered Seirei-o's summons – you were worried about her._

"I think that I have been remiss not to have questioned myself, and those of you who call our old friend mistress, on the matter of her power before now," a large voice finally grumbled, and Loke looked at the king. His brows rose sharply in surprise to see Seirei-o looking as chagrined as he'd probably ever been.

"What?" he asked, intrigued. _What's got that expression on his face?_

His question was met with a question. "Tell me – have _you_ ever noticed that our old friend's magic seems remarkably close to your own as a stellar spirit?"

Loke froze. After a moment, he said, "Yes. The very first time she stepped foot in Fairy Tail, I could feel a strong resonance between her and I." He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet. "I'd been in so much pain for so long as that world slowly ate away at my very being, but when she walked in a little of her power slipped away from her and entered me. It... was the first time in almost three years that I'd been free of that burning agony," he whispered, then his voice strengthened again. "It was like her magic wanted to heal me... and I've thought the same since then, that her power is so similar to ours. Not quite the same, but close. Why?"

"Because it seems that since her power so closely resembled a true spirit's already, giving her the star dresses, combined with what you were forced to do to save her from the dark magic a day ago, has permanently altered her energy into that of a celestial spirit." The king met his gaze soberly. "Our old friend is no longer human, and will never be again – her current state is not reversible. She is forever one of us now."

Loke gasped sharply and stiffened. "But how? _W-why_?" he asked again, too stunned to know what to think. (Though he couldn't help the way his heart leaped in his chest at the almost subconscious knowledge that now she could never leave him. Nor the surge of guilt that came right after with the realization that her whole life had just changed irrevocably – and that it was at least partially his fault.)

"I am not entirely certain, but I believe it is ultimately a matter of _who_ she is."

"What?" the lion voiced blankly, wrinkling his nose in confusion. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Seirei-o sent Loke a _look_. "Do not tell me you have forgotten the name Heartfilia, Leo. A long line of the most powerful celestial mages, blood passed down in an unbroken line from mother to daughter for what amounts to around a thousand years in the mortal realm. Our old friend sleeping so peacefully there in your bed is the culmination of the bloodline, the only one powerful enough to wear a star-dress and summon multiple spirits at the same time. And she's the _only_ mage who's ever been strong enough to summon me even after a protracted physical and magical battle against _demons_ where she summoned four of the strongest Zodiac spirits in rapid succession." A sharp grin showed his teeth in terrifying detail. "The underworld king, Mard Greer, was most discomposed about that. He told me himself that he'd miscalculated in his plans, not believing there was anyone powerful enough to summon me."

"Yes, I know all that," Leo allowed, still not putting two and two together. "But I don't understand what you're getting at."

"In all of time, there has never been another who has a bloodline with a _history_ of being celestial mages. Because of that, I suppose it is not so surprising that I did not foresee this," Seirei-o frowned pensively, then continued. "I believe that what has happened is the result of the _cumulative_ effect of using celestial spirit magic over a long length of time. To put it plainly, it seems as if being exposed to a celestial spirit's power over an extended period - such as has been seen through the Heartfilia line - eventually begins to change a human. And finally, when that effect gets strong enough... the mage herself will become a spirit. I believe that is what has happened to our old friend. In her, the accumulation of all her ancestor's brushes with our realm and power, along with her own, reached critical mass."

"Critical mass," Loke echoed blankly.

"Yes."

It took him a few minutes to process all that, and he had to admit, the explanation sounded plausible. It was very possible that was a consequence of using this type of magic. It was just that as Seirei-o had said, there had never been an entire _bloodline_ that had wielded celestial magic before, so no one had realized this would happen. And if that were the case, then... he turned and looked at Lucy again.

"An earthly star that ascended to the heavens..." he sighed under his breath. _That kind of sounds familiar... but where've I heard it before?_

Then he brushed the vague thought aside and jammed his hands in his pockets, more immediate things on his mind.

 _She's... she's really one of us now. But... she's going to be so upset when she wakes up and I have to tell her what's happened,_ he realized sadly. _It's going to be such a huge change for her. Plus, to know that she can never live on Earthland again, and that all her friends are going to grow old and die while she'll live pretty much forever... well... she's not used to that like the rest of us are, and it's going to break her heart to lose her team and the rest of her nakama. And then there's..._

"If she's really a spirit now, what constellation is she?" he asked, his voice a little numb from all the shocks he'd suffered in the last few hours.

Seirei-o glanced over at him from where he'd been studying Lucy and cocked a brow curiously. "My earlier question to Virgo does not give you the answer to that?"

Loke blinked a couple of times, and then his eyes widened. _And yet another shock._ "Eridanus," he breathed. "She's Eridanus, isn't she? That's why the Fleuve d' Etoiles resonated so well with her – because it belongs to the river!"

"Yes. Her magic was similar all along to ours as spirits, but it was, as Virgo noted, an almost perfect match for Eridanus even before this change came upon her. The river of heaven finally has a spirit of its own, and the void within its heart will now be filled. It's one of the most powerful constellations, with the twenty-four stars that make it up stretching across the stellar world. It is... a fitting magic for our old friend, however, for as the strongest of celestial mages she could only gain in the exchange," he noted, "not lose."

"Does she have a key?"

Seirei-o shook his head, to Loke's surprise. "As Eridanus, she is too valuable to the celestial realm to have a key as the rest of you do. She cannot even be summoned in the way I can be. The river is a symbol of life, rebirth, and renewal for our world, and now that it has a spiritual consciousness of its own, it will only become even more influential and important to all celestial spirits."

A little envious of that, truthfully, still Loke couldn't help but feel glad that it was so. He knew what many celestial spirit mages were like, and he never wanted Lucy's beautiful heart tortured and fouled by a bad master. He could not watch her be damaged like that. And too, if she'd had a key then eventually she'd be made to serve someone, and it would be very likely that sooner or later they'd end up with different masters and forced to fight each other. He would never be able to raise a hand to her, no matter whether that inability ended up killing him or not.

On top of that, he knew she would feel the same. She wouldn't be able to hurt any of the celestial spirits – she loved them all, whether she had their key or had even ever met them or not.

He exhaled heavily. "That's good. It would have been... bad, if she did have one." He didn't say anything else, but he was pretty sure he didn't need to. Seirei-o was more than intelligent enough to put two and two together and know why he felt that way.

"I agree with you," the king replied, glancing at the still-sleeping Lucy. "Her heart is too tender to harm those she cares for, no matter the consequences to herself."

"And what about our keys?" Loke finally asked, folding his arms across his chest in a mirror of the king's posture. "You know... all of us that she had contracts with."

At that question Seirei-o actually chuckled. "She has not died, Leo, only changed forms. Therefore she still _holds_ your contracts, and I have no recourse or reason under celestial law to break them myself, for _she_ has not broken any of them as your owner. It seems this is a new day in the celestial realm – for the first time, a spirit has regained its full freedom from human masters, and will never have to worry about having one again. The only mistress you will all have from now on is our old friend, who will be known as Eridanae here in the spirit realm... though I've no doubt you will still call her Lucy, or Princess, as the others do."

Loke was frankly dumbfounded. Something like this had never even occurred to him. Why would it? Such a thing had never happened before, just as Seirei-o had said. He stared at Lucy's peacefully sleeping form with awe. _Ever since the moment I met her, she's changed things around her just by being who she is. And now this?_

He'd pretty much worshiped her since the day she'd saved him. But as things were now she was going to have to get used to a whole new level of adoration not only from him, but all of those who called her mistress. Maybe if they all tried hard enough they could convince her that this fate was actually a good one, and she wouldn't stay upset for long when he told her how changed her life had now become.

 _And hope rises once more unbidden..._

"If there is any human that has ever existed that has earned the honor of ascending to the heavens, it is her," Seirei-o finally sighed. "She knows what true power is at its core."

"Love," Loke said softly as he stared at her. "She's said that before. That the one true power is love."

"Yes. And that is why she is so very worthy of joining us here in the celestial realm."

Love had always been Lucy's strength, and now he couldn't help but wonder, because it was also a spirit's strength in a somewhat more direct manner than was true for a human. As he'd told Bixlow during the battle of Fairy Tail, love made a spirit stronger.

But he also knew that Lucy might not see this whole thing as the honor the king was describing. Seirei-o had never really had much to do with humans, and he didn't always understand their motivations. She was losing the life she'd grown up expecting, aging and dying all an accepted, though not always liked, part of it. And that along with her team and every one of her other friends in that world - she had a lot of them, and they were all very dear to her, as he knew all too well.

Losing them was going to break her heart... and thereby his. _Damn it... how many more blows is she going to have to endure?_ Much as Loke always wanted her with him, and the thought of losing her to the short lifespan of humans frightened him more than anything he'd ever known, he'd rather endure that than watch Lucy suffer any sort of pain or sadness.

A low moan from the young woman in question drew his attention back to his surroundings once more, and Loke hurried to her side, absolutely dreading the conversation that was to come.

He felt like he'd failed her throughout the whole situation, and now because of that her entire life had changed almost unrecognizably. _If she didn't hate me before, she surely will now. Or if she doesn't, she should._ The knowledge was like a shot through the heart – it _hurt_.

He'd failed her... and this was the result.

With barely a thought the lion created a chair next to the side of the bed Lucy lay on and sat down, eyes intent on her face. He reached over and took a warm, slim hand and curled his larger one around it, his thumb sweeping back and forth along her wrist in a comforting manner – though who he was trying to comfort, her or himself, he wasn't sure.

She shifted restlessly, and he was sure she wouldn't be sleeping for very much longer. A slightly louder groan from her proved him right, as her face scrunched up and her eyelids twitched. Loke frowned in concern; she sounded like she was still in pain, and he didn't like that.

There was little he could do if she was, however – he remembered his own recuperation from this same thing, and the pain had lingered for a little while, sometimes coming on him suddenly before fading again.

He almost leaped out of his own skin when Seirei-o moved closer and studied the young woman, the king's eyes sharpening on her as she tried to fight the pain in her sleep. He'd forgotten the giant spirit was even there.

"I see," he said, before lifting one huge hand over the bedstead and sending his own power into the blonde's body in subtle waves, gentling her. "Her spiritual energy is trying to balance itself out as it overtakes and purges the last bits of her mortality. But it surges and retreats erratically, and that is what is causing her pain. I can smooth the way and spare her this."

Whatever Seirei-o was doing was definitely helping as Lucy stopped flinching and moaning in her sleep and calmed down, and Loke was almost pathetically grateful for his benevolence on the matter. Watching her suffer wasn't something he was very good at – it always left him feeling raw and as though his heart had been sliced into ribbons.

"Thank you," he said softly, glancing up at the ruler of the celestial world, and then back down at his guiding star. "I can't stand to see her in pain."

"You love her, so that is no surprise," Seirei-o said mildly, and Loke immediately flushed at how easily the king had said that. "All spirits who have met her feel affection for her, myself included," he added with a smile, "but none love her in the same way as you, which is why I chastised Aquarius for her words and instructed her not to challenge you over our old friend."

Leo scowled at mention of the water-bearer. "She's bullied Lucy since she inherited her key from her mother. But I'm not going to tolerate it any longer. I'll-"

A groan came from the bed, interrupting the two male's conversation. Loke was once more instantly attuned to his mistress as he forgot about everything else, his eyes darting back to her face. He was happy to find that the sound wasn't made in pain, and instead simply signified her returning awareness – despite the fact that he really dreaded the coming conversation.

"Mmm... Loke?" she murmured, her voice raw and her eyes still closed, and he was abruptly aware that he had continued holding her hand and rubbing her wrist with his thumb through the last several minutes. Much as he didn't want to let go, though, she needed the tea Virgo had brought. Her throat was dry and sore just as he'd thought it would be.

"I'm here," he assured her gently, his eyes softening on her as he watched her lashes flutter and then slowly rise. He moved a little closer and wrapped an arm around her to lift her a little then picked up the still warm tea and held it to her lips. "And I've got something to help soothe your throat. Sip it slowly."

She seemed a little dazed as she obeyed, her gaze hazy and tired. After a few sips she cleared her throat and looked up at him. "What... what's happened to me? I feel so... so exhausted. But better?" She almost sounded confused there, as if she hadn't expected that – which told Loke that she'd known something was wrong and had indeed been hiding it.

He set the cup back down and lowered her to the bed again, not sure how he felt about that at the moment.

"So that's why I didn't feel anything wrong with you... you were trying to hide it from me, weren't you?"

But by then she had become a little bit more aware, and her eyes darted around the room, widening with astonishment – especially when she caught sight of Seirei-o. "W-what am I doing in the spirit world?" she asked, her gaze whipping back to her lion's.

Loke countered with a question of his own. "Why didn't you tell someone what was going on? You almost.. almost..." his voice choked off, and the blonde dropped her gaze, his obvious pathos at the thought leaving her almost overcome with guilt.

She promptly forgot her own previous question.

"I didn't want to worry you," she sniffled, sounding conscience-stricken. "You worry about me enough as it is, and I didn't want to burden you any more."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. "Lucy... if I hadn't realized how long it had been since you'd called for one of us and decided to check on you, you'd be dead!" he scolded her, his eyes bright with suppressed tears as he fully took that in. She really had almost... "I would much rather worry about you than lose you!"

"Your other spirits feel the same, Lucy Heartfilia," Seirei-o added, his voice rumbling. "As you once rebuked Leo for worrying those who cared for him, so he is saying the same to you. As am I."

The young woman blushed, unable to look at the king. _I feel stupid..._ When someone like the spirit king chastised you, it was highly embarrassing. "I... I didn't know I would have died," she defended weakly, her cheeks quite red by that time.

And suddenly, Loke felt all his frustrated and strained emotions overflow, and he wanted nothing more than to yell and shake her and make her swear never to do something that stupid again. He began pacing.

"So hiding that you were desperately ill and in pain was supposed to... what – keep everyone else oblivious and happy while you suffered? How the _hell_ were you supposed to get better if you didn't tell anyone that something was wrong and try to get help?" he shouted, now almost as red-faced as Lucy, though his was due to fear and frustrated fury. "You just didn't think in this matter at all, did you?!"

Seeing that the young woman was about to start crying, Seirei-o stepped in. "Be calm, Leo. What's done is done. And remember, you need not worry over such a thing again," he emphasized meaningfully, though a little cryptically, to Lucy's ears.

 _Eh? What's that supposed to mean?_

Despite the fact that he was quite upset with the girl settled in his bed, the moment she began struggling to sit up Loke was instantly by her side, ready to assist her in any way she needed.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. You're right... it was stupid," she whispered with a rather dejected look at the lion. "I wasn't trying to upset you."

He sighed, his anger disappearing as quickly as it had come at the downcast expression on her face. But he was still a little... annoyed. Lucy had him all tied up in knots, and she just didn't even know it. He could never stay mad at her for anything.

And that was kind of aggravating sometimes.

"It's... it's okay," he forgave her just a tiny bit grudgingly, "I know you thought you were protecting me, even if it was stupid. Just don't ever endanger yourself like that again, alright? Promise me?"

A regretful but firm shake of her head answered his plea. "I can't promise that, and you know it, because there's danger even just in living. I don't know if I would... even if I could, though. At the very least, to protect others, I would give my life."

At that statement and a slight cough from Seirei-o, the lion grimaced, knowing it was time to tell his mistress exactly what was going on – it couldn't be put off any further. Besides, the king had indeed been correct a few minutes ago – it wasn't like it really mattered whether she promised or not since she wasn't mortal any longer, so death would never be a concern again. Now she just needed to be informed of that fact.

Not oblivious to his sudden unease, Lucy shot a searching look at him and reiterated her earlier question. "What am I doing here... for that matter, _how_ am I here? Humans can't come here, at least not without wearing celestial clothing. And I'm-" she glanced down at herself and frowned as that fact and certain rather unwelcome conclusions based on it began to filter into her mind, "-just wearing my own clothes."

Loke slid his glasses back up his nose, the last bit of his distemper subsiding as his own culpability in those circumstances made him feel just as guilty as she'd looked moments before. He looked from her up at Seirei-o, and the king shot him a questioning glance.

"Did you wish to speak to her alone?"

A little conflicted by the offer, he hesitated, because truthfully he would rather talk to her alone. But he knew that in the long run it would be better if the king was also present, so that he could answer any questions that she might have in greater detail than he himself could. Finally, he shook his head.

"No, it's probably for the best that you're here, actually," he decided. "You can explain the specific details better than I can."

As Lucy began to look very apprehensive, Seirei-o inclined his head and Loke took a deep breath, trying to brace himself.

 _How do I tell her that everything she knew and loved is lost to her... forever?_

~~LoLu~~

A/N: I'd like to apologize to the readers. Apparently, F F dot net is having... issues. It's not sending notifications, and I'm not getting any reviews. So... for all those that have reviewed on that site, please don't think I'm ignoring you. And I thank you for those reviews! Also, my health is just not very good, and I've been sick a lot lately. Please do excuse me for taking a while to post – but it will come, don't worry. As for this chapter... I hope everyone enjoys!

Amber


	10. Chapter 10

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 10**

~~LoLu~~

"Loke?"

He flinched at the sound of Lucy's voice; she sounded scared, and she had good reason to be – she just didn't know it yet.

 _Damn it all to hell, where do I even start?_

Meeting her gaze with a wince, he paused when he noticed a very specific kind of dread in her eyes. _Or does she already suspect...?_

"Just tell me!" she finally shouted. "Why do I feel so very different in my own body? I feel... an echo in my heart, and there's a strange, indescribable _something_ flowing just beneath my skin. What's happened to me?!"

He was forced to shove his hands in his pockets to keep them from doing what they really wanted to do, which was reach out and grab her up into his arms. Not only would Lucy kill him if he did, he was pretty sure she'd kill him again because he was touching her in front of the spirit king and Crux, who was still in the room, snoozing away in a corner. He really wasn't looking to get dead, so it was safer to keep his hands as far away from her as possible.

"I think you already know what's happened, Princess," he finally muttered, watching her with eyes that were far too shrewd – but also sad. "You're just scared of acknowledging it."

She looked stricken at his words, devastated. He could clearly see that she wanted to run and hide from the massive truth now weighing her down.

But this was Lucy. And Lucy Heartfilia didn't hide from the truth, good or bad. He'd momentarily forgotten that. His admiration of her surged, and in direct correlation his opinion of himself dropped – he adored her indomitable strength, but in many ways it awed him and left him feeling unworthy of her.

"H-how did this happen?" she finally whispered, her eyes on her lap as she stared into a far away place where Loke couldn't follow, even with their bond.

He instantly despised that realization – he didn't like being locked out of anything to do with her.

"It was... a combination of things, apparently. Things no one knew to take into account, because circumstances like this have never happened before."

"So explain these circumstances, Loke," Lucy demanded tartly, and he glanced at the spirit king, who had thus far been silent. "Stop trying to beat around the bush."

He sighed. "Seirei-o said the bottom line is that this happened mostly because of who you are - a daughter of the Heartfilia line. No other celestial mages in history have had an entire bloodline that were all stellar wizards save for yours. And you're the culmination of the line, the most powerful of them. With an entire bloodline devoted to summoning celestial spirits and working with our magic, it seems your energy was already on the verge of becoming the same as ours... and giving you the stardresses and-" Loke looked away guiltily now, unable to hold her gaze to actually _see_ the moment she realized that it was his fault and started to resent him, "-what I did to free you of the darkness of that bastard Delenn, just kind of... pushed your power over the edge, and forced your body to complete the change."

It was silent for long moments as Lucy just stared at him; even though he was unable to bring himself to actually meet her gaze, he could feel hers pinned on him like a burning brand pressed to his skin.

"And no one knew this would happen?" _Because of who I was born as, I was basically destined to become this way. All that time... I was barely human, and now I'm not human at all._ It was a frightening realization to come to, after spending your whole life believing you were.

Crux spoke up then and answered that one, to Loke's momentary surprise – he'd forgotten his orders to the constellation of the Southern Cross earlier – and gratitude. He needed a few moments to attempt to regain his equilibrium – this was even harder than he'd already known it would be.

"No. As Leo-sama has said, no other celestial mages in history have been part of a bloodline like yours, so there were no precedents at all. However, I did find something interesting. At least a few mages have theorized that such a thing as becoming a celestial spirit by slowly immersing yourself in spirit energy is possible. It has never been more than a theory, though, that is quite clear from my research."

Lucy laughed a little hysterically at that. "No, of course not. It's just my luck that I ended up being the guinea pig for something like this. Oh, gods," she moaned, dropping her head into her hands and rocking back and forth as she tried not to completely lose it. Anxiety, and a sense of inevitability, welled up inside her. "Oh, gods. What am I going to do? How do we fix this?"

"Fix it?" Seirei-o boomed, causing the young woman to lift her head and look up at him. "If by that you mean 'return you to your mortal form', then we do not. There is no 'fixing' the matter. Your energy has been permanently altered - it can never be altered back without immediately killing you. You will never be mortal again."

Just about ready to start hyperventilating, the blonde's frightened and overwhelmed gaze darted from him to Crux, and then to Loke, as if almost hoping they were pulling her leg and would yell, "Just kidding," at her at any moment. But those hopes crumbled when she got to the lion's downcast features and read the truth there. He still wouldn't look at her, and suddenly understanding why despite her own preoccupation, she forced it aside in favor of trying to comfort him – because his hurt made her hurt worse. She only ever wanted him to be happy.

"Look at me, Loke," she whispered, knowing he would hear her despite the lack of volume. When he tentatively met her gaze, she shook her head at him. "This isn't your fault, so stop thinking that way right this minute. If even Seirei-o didn't know this would happen, how could you?"

"I didn't," he hastened to assure her. "But... but if I hadn't exposed you to my power the way I did, it wouldn't have happened. I-"

"If you hadn't, I would be dead now. No matter what, I'm grateful that you saved me," she said, eyeing him sternly. "And even if all that hadn't happened, it seems that I... I would still have ended up this way, it just would have taken longer. So... so stop looking like your best friend just died-" she winced as she realized what she'd just said, considering the current conversation, but continued on anyway, "-and as guilty as though it were your fault. You really have to stop taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong. You did the same thing before, with Karen's death, and I won't have you doing it now."

"Lucy-sama is correct, Leo-sama," Crux said a little ponderously. "This situation cannot in any way be construed as your fault."

Still feeling responsible no matter what anyone said, though on a purely intellectual level he knew they were correct and he wasn't, nonetheless Loke didn't argue, not wanting to upset his mistress any further.

However, when she moved to get out of bed he was once more instantly by her side and tutting disapprovingly at her. "Lucy, you shouldn't try to get up yet," he protested softly. "You're doing better, but it's going to take a little longer before you've completely healed. Until then, you're probably going to feel weak and somewhat tired, and I don't want you pushing yourself – it won't help anything."

She shook her head stubbornly at him, needing to get up and move around. If she stayed in that bed one more minute she was going to start screaming. (Though it _was_ very comfortable, even more than her own bed.)

"I can't stay still right now, Loke. I'll lose it if I do. I've got to move around," she replied, trying desperately to keep her tone even so he wouldn't know just how close she really was to 'losing it' and screaming her head off. She wasn't entirely successful, a tiny waver shaking her voice just enough for the others in the room with her to notice, and the lion just wanted to cry with how hard she was obviously trying _not_ to.

But he understood how she was feeling somewhat; after all, the same thing had happened to him, just in reverse, and for three long years he'd thought he'd die without ever seeing his spirit friends or his home again. And so, reluctantly he stepped back and let her get up, though he hovered close by in case she wasn't able to stand yet and started to fall.

He was a little surprised when she seemed fine, standing with no apparent trouble and beginning to pace as she deliberated on what she'd been told.

"She is fine, Leo," Seirei-o murmured, glancing at him with some amusement. "I told you I would assist her healing, and I did just that."

 _Oh. That's right,_ he thought as he watched his mistress, glad she wouldn't have to go through what he had. _I won't have to watch her suffer anymore physical pain, anyway. That's... that's something, at least. Now if I could just find a way to make her life perfect so she never had to deal with any emotional pain, that would be great._

He wasn't that foolish, though. He was well aware that wasn't possible.

His attention was pulled back to the spirit king when he spoke again. "Do you have any questions about this matter, old friend?" He wondered for a moment why he was asking him that, then flushed slightly when he realized Seirei-o was actually speaking to Lucy, not him.

She had paused in her pacing as the king spoke to her, and nodded after a moment. "Um, so I'm a-a spirit now, but... what does that really mean?"

A little taken aback at her phrasing, and not entirely certain he knew what she was asking, he repeated, "Mean?"

"Well, yes. I mean, aren't all spirits tied to a constellation? But I'm not... so how can I be a spirit?"

"Ah," the king rumbled. "Now I perceive what you are asking. You _are_ associated with a constellation, a water sign."

"Eh?" Lucy said blankly, surprised. "I _am_? Which one?" _Oh, please, don't let it be something to do with Aquarius... she'll torture me,_ was all she could think.

"You are Eridanus, the river of the heavens. In this realm, your true name will forever be Eridanae. It is a strong sign, one capable of healing and also battle magic."

"Oh," she breathed, feeling her anxiety ratchet up another notch. The longer this discussion continued, the more it was sinking in that this was really happening. She felt trapped. "If I'm a silver key-"

She was interrupted before she could get any further. "The river of the stellar realm has no key at all. Eridanus is too valuable to this world to be tied to any mortal in such a way. As Leo and I already agreed, it would not be a good thing for you to have a key, anyway. It would only lead to a disaster for the entire celestial realm."

"But didn't the river already have a spirit of its own?"

"No. Not every constellation does." Then the king's expression went a little sly, and he added, "What will be Leo Minor, for instance. At least not _yet_ ," with a meaningful smirk at the lion and glance at Lucy.

Loke had no trouble getting what Seirei-o was implying, and the tips of his ears turned a bit pink. _Oh, if only!_ He had absolutely _no_ problem with that idea whatsoever, his mind instantly going to _exactly_ what sort of activities would be required for such a circumstance to have even a hope in hell of coming to pass.

"Why do I have the feeling I don't want to know what that was all about?" the young woman in question grumbled suspiciously, not having missed the exchange, nor Loke's slight flush.

"It's nothing! Nothing at all!" he insisted quickly.

Too quickly.

But the blonde hadn't been kidding – she really didn't think she wanted to know, because the spirit king had sounded a lot like he was being a pervert right then, and that was just way too much for her poor mind to take in. She knew it had to be pretty bad to get any kind of blush out of Loke, with as big a womanizer as he'd always been.

She hadn't blinded herself to his foibles just because she'd fallen in love with him, you see.

Lucy wasn't stupid. She'd gotten what the king was alluding to easily enough, that Leo might someday have a child that would become Leo Minor, but what she _didn't_ understand was why the possibility seemed to disconcert him to the point of making even a hint of a flush appear on his fair skin. He probably hadn't really blushed in years.

It never occurred to her that it wasn't that the king was saying that he'd someday have a child of his _own_ that had made him react that way, but at the implication – from his little glance her way, the one she hadn't noticed - that it would be with _her._ Why would it? She had always believed that she would never have a real chance with Loke. Of course, a large part of that was because she was mortal and he wasn't, but not all of it, by any means.

Though it _also_ hadn't yet occurred to her in that _particular_ context that she was no longer mortal...

Still eyeing him a little dubiously, she chose to let the matter slide with a disbelieving, "Uh-huh."

Seirei-o's gigantic, rather knowing chuckle followed that sound, and Lucy blushed, though she wasn't certain why. Perhaps it was because she realized that he was still thinking lecherous things, and just didn't know how to handle such knowledge.

"Are there any other questions for me?"

At that point, Loke broke in. He didn't really need to be around for all the explanations, and felt that he would be better off heading back to the guild and letting everyone know what was going on, and the ramifications of it. After all, it had already been a week there after just the couple of hours since he'd shown up here with the blonde, and he knew her friends had to be besides themselves with worry.

He was probably in for it when he got there, actually. _Great. Just what I needed. More stress._

"Lucy, you and Seirei-o have things to discuss, and I really should go to the guild and let them know what's happened. I'm sure they're worried. Unless you need me to stay...?" he asked, meeting her wide eyes with concern.

She tensed, coming to a halt in her pacing, then deliberately gave him a shake of her head. "No, that's a good idea. I'll be fine. Tell everyone... that I said hello," she replied faintly as she wondered whether she'd ever get to see her friends on Earthland again. The thought choked her up and she was forced to clear her throat shakily and fight off the hot sting of tears. But she was afraid that if Loke realized just how upset she really was he'd refuse to leave her, and she didn't want to leave the rest of her... her _former_ team so worried about her.

"Are you sure?"

A nod was his answer, and though he wasn't fooled by her attempts at keeping her disturbed emotions from him, he knew she'd be in the same state for probably some time to come, as she slowly accepted that her life had changed almost unrecognizably – and began to adjust to that knowledge, and her new circumstances.

"Okay. You know if you need me I'll be able to feel it and I'll come right back."

The young woman just nodded again with a slight, strained smile, unable to find her voice at the moment.

He inclined his head and then glanced at Crux. "Take care of our mistress until I return," he charged the constellation of the Southern Cross, and then faded out of sight before the archive master of the celestial world could answer.

Not that he really needed to.

~~LoLu~~

Loke wasn't particularly surprised to have a fist come flying at him before he'd even fully transitioned into the mortal world, nor that it was Natsu's. That didn't mean he was in the mood to put up with the hothead at this point, because he wasn't. His heart hurt too much to have the patience. He ducked, then reached over and halted the attack by the simple expedient of grabbing the fire mage's collar and scarf in one large fist and choking him off.

"Chill the fuck out, flame-brain," he snarled, stealing Gray's usual insult without blinking. "If you want to find out what the hell's going on, you'll sit down and shut the fuck up. Fighting with me isn't going to get you the answers you want, it's just going to piss me off. And I'm not in the damn mood to be kind to anyone that does." Then he shoved the pink-haired teen away and headed straight for the bar.

"I need a stiff drink, Kinana," the lion said as he sat down. He completely ignored the otherwise silent guildhall, not even paying any attention to Erza's stern expression as she, Gray, Natsu, and Happy surrounded him.

"What would you like?" the assistant barmaid asked softly.

"Honkaku Shochu, please," he decided. "Just bring the bottle."

"Yo, Loke, where's Lucy? Is she okay? What the hell's going on? Come on, man!"

The lion inhaled deeply, and then slowly let it out while inwardly he sought for control. After a moment, he said, "Lucy's awake now," tightly. "She's recovering. Now, if you know what's good for you, Gray, back off for a few. I really, _really_ need a drink."

"We've been waiting for some time already," Erza stated evenly, eyeing him. "While we're glad to hear that she's okay, I really think you have a lot more to explain."

"Yeah!" Natsu growled. "We've been waiting while you've been with her for a week!"

"It wasn't a week in the spirit world, you moron!" Loke snapped, his voice dropping low and chilling everyone who heard it, and even had the dragon slayer mentally taking a step back. "It's been like an hour and a half, two hours tops. I had Lucy to take care of, and she was my priority, not you guys. On top of that, it wouldn't have done you much good if I'd turned around and come back before getting any answers to pass on. Now, I'm serious. Let me take at least a shot or two before you start on me, or I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"He is right, Natsu," Makarov said from a little further down the bar, and the celestial spirit glanced over at him with a nod of respect. "Leave him be, and we will the sooner get our answers."

The fire mage plopped down a couple stools over with a pout and ordered a fire whisky from Lisanna, who had come over to him the moment he'd done so. She patted his hand with a sympathetic smile and went to pour his drink.

It was quiet for several minutes as everyone surreptitiously watched the spirit at the bar immediately down two shots of alcohol like they were water, then pick up the bottle and pour himself another couple. Once he set it back down on the bar, Erza turned a rather demanding gaze on him, and Loke sighed, not looking forward to this conversation any more than he'd looked forward to the last one.

"First of all, what was happening to Lucy? You said that you'd seen it before. And then you grabbed her and vanished without any further explanation."

Eyes shadowed, the lion nodded before knocking back another shot. "When I was banished from the celestial realm and trapped here, I was slowly dying, as you all know. As a stellar spirit, my energy and the energy of this world aren't compatible, which is why a spirit can only stay here for so long before losing their life. What you saw happening to Lucy... is what was happening to me as I got closer to vanishing forever." He shivered at the memories, and then at being forced to see his very-much beloved mistress in such disarray, yet again.

"So that's why you grabbed her and took off that way," Cana said, slugging her own drink back.

Loke glanced down the bar at the brunette, and nodded. "Yeah. When I saw how fast the attacks – for lack of a better word – were coming, I knew there wasn't much time left. If I hadn't come when I did..." he sucked in a breath and shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the painful thought. It had been so close.

"Why didn't you know what was happening and come earlier?" Gray asked, his voice quiet as he watched his friend.

He hadn't forgotten the words the lion had roared at him inside that cathedral... that he loved the young woman, nor the fact that he'd proved it by opening up his heart's truest power and pouring it all out to save her. Sharing his power with Lucy in such a fundamental way was a very intimate thing, as they'd learned when they'd had Levy looking through the library trying to find out what was going on with their blonde friend. It was something that was never done unless there was a great deal of love on the spirit's part for the person in question.

The ice mage supposed he should have known that his friend was really in love with Lucy. He was always so sensitive to her, and he'd already suspected that the bond between the two went beyond a normal spirit and mage one. He just hadn't realized how far beyond, until the moment Loke had shouted his confession with so much anguish.

But that's what made it so surprising that he hadn't known something was wrong the moment the stellar mage had collapsed.

"She was blocking me off," he clenched his fist around the small glass in his hand for a moment with residual frustration at the thought, then poured himself another shot. "She knew something was wrong because she was in pain, although she didn't know what. But she didn't want to worry anyone, so she kept it secret. And since I was still exhausted from... clearing the darkness from her when she had me go back home, I pretty much crashed into my own bed and was out like a light for most of twelve or thirteen hours, my time. I'd only been awake for a few hours when I started feeling like something was off. Capricorn asked if it was Lucy, and that's when I noticed that the bond with her felt... subdued. Muted. I immediately came back to check on her, and you know the rest."

That explained it. "Dammit, Lucy," Gray mumbled. But it really wasn't surprising – that was the blonde woman all over. She hated upsetting anyone, and having them worrying over her was something she actively tried to avoid – no matter the cost to herself. Unfortunately, this time that cost had almost been her life. He sighed, and absently began removing his shirt as he took a seat next to his spirit friend.

His actions were halted a moment later by a hard smack to the back of his head and a glaring Erza's, "Keep your clothes on," and he cursed under his breath at himself before shrugging the shirt back on.

"Sorry."

Loke simply shook his head and took another drink. His friend just never changed.

"Humans can't stay in the spirit world anymore than spirits can stay here," a deep voice said, and everyone fell silent and looked at their master where he was seated on the bartop with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed.

"You're right," the lion replied.

"Then she is no longer human, as is apparent from what you said was wrong with her, and the fact that taking her to a place that humans cannot go has healed her." Makarov didn't say anything else, but he didn't really have to, as shocked exclamations and a babble of stunned voices broke out around the room.

Lifting his drink in only slightly mocking assent, Loke inclined his head to the guildmaster and then downed the shochu before saying, "Right again," and slamming the glass back down on the bar.

His reaction had everyone falling quiet just as he said that, and the sharp sound of the glass hitting the bar was rather loud in the ensuing silence as they all took in what had just been said... and the connotations of it.

~~LoLu~~

A/N: I know there's been a lot of talking going on the last few chapters, and there's another two or so of explanations and reactions, but I promise, other things are coming. The next chapter actually has one of the scenes I've enjoyed writing the most so far in this fic, and I hope you all will enjoy it, too. Glad to see that everyone is still excited to read this story, though I'm a little worried about FF dot net. I've been on this site since 2008, and this is the longest time its ever gone with a notifications glitch. Because I'm still not receiving any, so the only way I can see reviews is by actively looking for them on-site. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.


	11. Chapter 11

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 11**

~~LoLu~~

"Lu-chan... isn't coming back?"

Loke turned his head to meet the wide eyes of Levy, who was the only one who'd so far managed to find her voice, though she sounded like a lost child in the grimly silent room.

 _It seems she picked up on that part of things fast. Smart girl._

His eyes fell away from her and he took another drink, this time just going straight from the bottle. He'd rarely done that before, but he really needed to blur his current reality and its spiteful, bitter voice. He couldn't _remember_ the last time things had been this bad – he hated this whole mess even more than when he'd been trapped on Earthland and dying.

After taking a good, long swallow, he said, "No. Maybe someday she can come visit, but she can't live here ever again," flatly.

There were several thumps of varying loudness as people that had been standing fell over in shock and dismay.

"How the hell did this happen?" Natsu growled in a low, furious tone.

When the lion turned to look at him, the fire mage had his lips peeled back from his teeth and a deadly glare in his eyes. The inference, unspoken but still clear, was that it was in some way the spirit's fault.

"Natsu," Makarov cautioned with a warning look at the hyper dragon slayer, who pouted.

But Loke was unable to deny the silent accusation, because he _felt_ as though it were his fault, despite the fact Lucy and Crux had both informed him that it wasn't. His eyes fell back to the bottle in his hand, and he poured some more down his throat.

"Seirei-o said it's because of who she is. A Heartfilia. No one knew it was possible, because there's never been an entire bloodline devoted to celestial magic like hers, but apparently this is a... now how did he phrase it... oh, yes-" he smirked darkly, "-a _consequence_ of almost a thousand years of their blood being exposed to our magic. It just built up in them until Lucy... and giving her the stardresses and drowning her in my magic in the way I was forced to because of Delenn tipped her over the edge. The king called it 'critical mass'."

The immediate silence that fell was broken by one man.

"Yeah... you sure this isn't something you did to her with that as an excuse? Seems to me this is awful convenient for you," a gravelly voice suggested, and Loke slowly rolled his head over towards the speaker with a very unfriendly light in his eyes as a babble of voices broke out around the room.

"What," he began in an ominously calm voice, "do you mean by that?"

"Come on, we've all heard that you quite clearly admitted to being in love with bunny girl. How much better it will suit you now that she's not gonna get old and die like the rest of us poor mortals, know what I mean?" Gajeel insinuated.

Once again, shocked silence fell, only this time it was at what the iron dragon slayer was actually accusing the lion spirit of...

Every person in the room nearly jumped out of their skins as the sound of glass shattering and wood splintering ricocheted around the hall. That was followed by what really sounded like the roar of an infuriated lion as Loke proved the truth of his nature in the most terrifying way imaginable - by immediately attacking the one who would dare to accuse him of something so horrible. He would _never_ cause Lucy any harm, and especially not by doing something like this to her... taking away her humanity and her entire world for his own gain. The very thought made him ill - he'd rather die than hurt her like that.

 _I'll make you sorry you ever suggested that, you fuckin' bastard!_

The blow plowed the slayer through the exterior wall of the building and out into the streets, the dust from the crumbled masonry cloaking his form as it billowed around him where he'd landed flat on his back.

Levy's shrill scream was what brought the rest of the guild back to themselves, and Makarov was forced to intervene as Loke stalked through the rubble towards the stunned mage with something very close to hatred in his eyes.

"If you _ever_ accuse me of something so vile again, I won't hold back, Redfox. You'll find out the hard way what kind of power I _really_ have," he snarled. "That you can even accuse someone who has already admitted to loving a woman of turning around and doing something to her that will leave permanent wounds on her heart, tells me _you_ don't know what love really is." He glanced at Levy as she ran up and skidded to a stop, then looked back down at Gajeel. He tilted his head towards the petite blue-haired script mage and said deliberately, "Makes me feel sorry for her."

The lion came to a halt as Makarov suddenly appeared between he and the slayer, though he didn't break gazes with the infuriated mage at first, his eyes quite clearly sending a message of pending pain to the other man even through his shades. _Don't let me catch you alone anytime soon, you rusted tin can._ He deliberately cracked his knuckles in a final warning, before glancing at the guildmaster as he began to speak.

"He spoke out of concern for Lucy, though he was out of turn in his words," the short, older man said to the stellar lion. Then he looked sternly down at Black Steel as he slowly climbed to his feet with a cold glare for the celestial spirit, who didn't look fazed in the slightest by the nasty glower, returning like with like quite happily. "Gajeel, you will stand down. You have no reason to accuse Loke of such a thing. Your words have not only dishonored a fellow guild member, but yourself. Think before you speak," he rebuked gravely.

"I did," the studded man replied as he wiped a bit of blood away from the side of his mouth with one big hand and then spat on the ground. "I'm makin' sure. I owe bunny girl this much after what I did to her before, when I was with Phantom Lord. So I'm checkin' so I can be certain that she's in good hands over there in the spirit world." He held Loke's gaze and gave him a dangerous grin, now talking directly to him. "I wanted to see how you'd react, see if you really would look out for her above yourself in everything. You've convinced me, so it's over now. Though... if you ever get balls enough, I wouldn't mind a continuation of this little episode. Show up anytime. Only, be prepared to be pounded if you do, 'cause I won't hold back, either."

Tension loosening a little at Gajeel's explanation, nonetheless the spirit of the lion wasn't able to subdue his predatory nature entirely just yet, and gave the other man a smile that was just this side of friendly. "One of these days I'll take you up on that, Redfox." Then he turned around and went back into the guild via the hole in the wall that he'd created by pounding the slayer through it.

He tossed some jewel on the part of the bar he _hadn't_ destroyed and looked at Mirajane, who'd come over to him with a sympathetic expression, though she seemed a bit disappointed that she now had yet another bar to replace – plus some.

"Sorry for the damage, Mira," he said with a deep exhale as the rest of the members began pouring back into the room and going back to their previous seats. He tossed some more jewel down. "This should take care of it... and get me a bottle of the house sake this time, would you? The nice little buzz I was working on earlier is now gone, and I've got to start all over."

Everyone had piled back inside by this time, and there was a low murmur of voices as people talked over everything they'd learned and what had happened. But Loke wasn't to be allowed any peace just yet, as the remains of team Natsu once again surrounded him.

"How is Lucy holding up?" Erza asked quietly, but with a knowing expression. "Your mood proves to me that she didn't take the news well."

He chuckled humorlessly. "No, you're wrong. She took it the way Lucy takes all bad news. Yes, she's upset, but she handled it better than probably anyone else would have. I think she's in a bit of shock – along with the grief and anxiety... and the depression that's most likely to come once everything really kicks in. But she still handled it better than I'd have believed possible with any other person caught in this mess. Better than I'm dealing with just having to tell her what's happened... and you guys."

Gray, who until now had been quiet, patted his friend on the back. "She'll survive this. Lucy's strong."

"Yes, stronger than any of us," Erza agreed with a nod. And then she sent a small smile in the lion's direction. "Not that she's ever believed it."

Loke sighed and stared down at the bar, folding his arms together and leaning on it with a far-away look in his eyes. "I know she will. I'm not so sure _I_ will. I really hate hurting her... and lately it seems I've been forced to do it more times than I can count. I feel sick."

"I understand what you are saying, and I sympathize," Makarov replied as the group turned to look at him, back in his usual spot on the bar. "But I am a little more concerned with something else. We all know what kind of person Lucy is – and what being a celestial spirit means, at least to some degree," he added with a nod at the lion, who caught on after a moment spent wondering what the little man was talking about.

 _Oh... yeah. That. Funny he should be the one to bring that up..._

"I worried about the same thing," he acknowledged the guildmaster's unspoken question, then smiled a little. "But she doesn't have a key, and never will. As a bonus," he added in an aside, "because she didn't die, and didn't do anything to break the contracts she has with her spirits, none of us will ever have to worry about a new master or mistress again. We'll remain under her protection forever."

"I thought all constellations had keys," Gray said, looking a little confused, though happy that his friend would never have to worry about another owner like that last bitch who'd had his key.

Loke chuckled. "No... not all constellations even have a consciousness, as Seirei-o pointed out to Lucy when she asked the same thing, let alone a key." A faint smirk crossed his lips at the reminder of what the king had used as an example to the blonde to prove his point, his face flushing with a bit of heat. _Gods,_ he hoped the perverted old bastard was right and someday... well, he just _hoped._

"So what constellation does she now represent?"

That question pulled another chuckle from the lion. Trust Erza to go straight to the point.

"She's Eridanus, the river of the stellar realm. As such, she's one of the most powerful constellations in the spirit world, as Seirei-o said, one capable of healing and battle magic alike."

It was silent for a moment, then Natsu asked, "If she doesn't have a key and a summoner, then why does she need battle magic?" before anyone else could think of anything to say.

Loke just stared at the dragon slayer, then blinked a couple of times as the connotations of his query sank in, and he shook his head, surprised he hadn't thought of it himself. For Natsu was quite correct – if she didn't have a key or a summoner who would need a skilled battle partner, then why did Eridanus have those capabilities at all?

"I... I don't know," he replied after a few, with a sort of huff of realization. "I'll have to ask Seirei-o about that."

"Maybe you should make a list of questions to ask him," Gray said wryly.

"Possibly. It's just that since this has never happened before, I'm not exactly sure what questions even _need_ to be asked, just like that one hadn't occurred to me." Loke shook his head with a soft, "Thanks," for Mirajane as she delivered the sake he'd requested. "What a mess."

"Let me know when you're ready to go back, and I'll make a strawberry smoothie for you to take to Lucy. She always enjoys those when she's stressed and upset. She says they 'cool her down'," the takeover mage laughed a little sadly. Leaning on the bar, she sighed. "What is she going to do about her apartment here, and all her things? Plus, since she was unconscious when the sale of her estate went through, and the lawyer didn't want to deal with the 'dangerous, rude friends' she has – which I assume meant you – he dropped her as a client as soon as the sale was finalized, and the Master agreed to hold her money here in the guild vault until she was well again."

Loke couldn't help the somewhat sarcastic chuckle that information tore from his throat. "That guy..."

"What did you do to him exactly? When we asked before, all you said was that you fed him some of his own medicine. But he seemed awfully... _afraid_ of you for that to be entirely true," Erza stated deliberately with a highly skeptical look at him.

He shot her a tight grin. "Okay, so maybe I fed him his medicine with a touch of threat," he admitted. "But the pompous little prick deserved it."

"Hm," she eyed him as Mirajane continued looking annoyed on the topic of the lawyer, but didn't say anything else.

Natsu and Gray just snickered, having a pretty good idea of what had transpired between Loke and the lawyer, since they'd been on the receiving end of the lion's 'threats' a few times before and thought they knew what sort of thing to expect from him. Especially when it came to protecting Lucy. A flamboyant personality under any circumstances, the lion always went just a _little_ overboard when it came to anything to do with her.

"Yes," Makarov sighed, looking a little irritated himself. "He was most definitely a petty, aggravating man. I suppose it is a good thing Lucy won't have to deal with him again. Still, Mira's question stands. Perhaps you should talk to the guild's newest celestial spirit and then let us know what she wishes to do. While I have no problem holding on to her money for as long as she needs me to, her personal items at her apartment are another matter, as her landlady will probably not be understanding of her situation."

Loke rubbed a hand across his eyes, and his sigh echoed the master's. "It's always something, isn't it? I'll talk to her and then come back... though that will probably be at least a few days time here. We'll most likely just end up moving her things to her new home in the spirit world, though."

"So she has a house over there?" Natsu asked, looking extremely curious.

"She will - all of us do. Our homes are wherever we like within our constellation, though there's no saying we have to stay there. Hell, Aquarius is rarely at her home since she started dating Scorpio. She's usually shacked up at his place – which is plenty enough reason for me to stay away," he added sourly. "That woman is scary. Scorpio's definitely braver than I am, getting involved with her."

Feeling much calmer since he'd managed to down most of his sake and the supportive presence of his and Lucy's friends had cheered him some, Loke tipped back the bottle and finished off the rest. Setting it on the bar much more gently now that his temper had been defused, he shook his head and smiled a little wryly.

"Well, I suppose I'd better head back, then. Mira? If you'd whip up that smoothie, I'll take it with me. I'm sure Lucy could use it by now."

He smiled a little brighter this time as the white-haired mage immediately got to work on the offered drink with a wink and a, "She'll probably glomp you as soon as she sees this."

"She can glomp me all she likes," he chuckled. _I wish..._ "I'll get back to you guys as soon as I can, okay? In the meantime, don't worry about her. She's fine... Seirei-o even healed her completely of the effects of the change so she wouldn't be in pain any longer."

The group all made appreciative noises at that, glad to hear that at least she wasn't physically suffering any more.

As soon as the promised smoothie was placed in his hands, the celestial spirit glanced at a certain table and moved towards it, his, "But first..." trailing off as he strode across the hall towards Gajeel, who was sitting with and trying to comfort a still-sniffling Levy.

Feeling a little awkward around the small, obviously very upset solid script mage, Loke shook his head and met the iron dragon-slayer's suspicious gaze straight on. "Don't look at me like that, you rude bastard. I just stopped to thank you for looking out for Lucy's best interests, even if the insinuation that I'd ever hurt her like that did piss me off. So take it as meant... though that doesn't mean that I won't take you up on that fight offer at some point."

"Heh. Like I said, show up anytime, Lion."

Loke flicked an off-hand, slightly sarcastic salute at the other mage, then looked at Levy. "Is there...anything you want me to pass on?"

"Y-yes," the blunette sniffed, "just tell Lucy that we all miss her and hope we can see her again..."

"Will do," he replied with a gentle smile for the grieving girl.

Gajeel inclined his head to the lion, and he nodded in response before turning and lifting a hand to the rest of the gang. "Be back in a few days, a week or so at most with some more answers for you guys," he finished before fading away to the tune of shouted acknowledgments.

It made his smile a little brighter... while at the same time it hurt his heart with the knowledge of how much her loss was going to affect the entire guild.

Lucy was just too easy to love... as he knew all too well.


	12. Chapter 12

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 12**

~~LoLu~~

Leo was forced to take a deep breath and compose himself before completely returning to Lucy and Seirei-o. He knew for them it had only been mere moments since he'd left, and that they were still talking, but now there were more questions to be asked – of the king, as well as his mistress herself.

But her pain hurt him, as well, and he knew she was in a great deal of it, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. It was wearing on him, leaving him feeling almost as exhausted as he had after he'd chased Delenn's darkness from her. Unfortunately, this pain was emotional, and no one could heal that for her. All he could do was be there by her side and help her through it as best he was able, as much as she would allow. And so he'd remain a silent shadow if that was what she needed and support her, no matter how hard it was, or how much it hurt him in the end.

Still, he also knew Lucy, and she had depths of strength that had never been plumbed. He had faith that she would recover, and step up to her new reality and responsibilities with a straight spine and pride in herself and her heritage... even if it had taken her old life away and forever changed her against her will.

Determination to support her through everything to come unfailingly settled firmly in place, he nodded to himself and then glowed his way back into his bedroom, making sure they knew he was coming. He didn't want to startle his mistress, she was fragile enough at the moment, and that would only make things worse.

"-feel like something is flowing beneath my skin, like I said earlier. I feel... so different. Is that because of being... Eridanus?" Lucy was asking, sounding rather hesitant, as though she didn't quite know _how_ to verbalize what she was feeling.

Loke listened closely – he was also curious about what she had meant earlier when she'd said that same thing.

"Hm. I would imagine so," Seirei-o replied, looking thoughtful. "I cannot say for certain, never having been human. The sensation of something flowing strongly beneath your skin _is_ an effect of being Eridanus, however. You cannot think like a human any longer. Your boundaries have opened up and the larger reality of universal consciousness has now become yours. You _are_ that constellation, and your power and spirit flows through the celestial realm as the river flows through your very veins. You will understand much more after the Joining, old friend. There are some things that simply cannot be explained – they must be experienced."

Loke blinked. "The Joining?" he asked, echoing his mistress' own question. He glanced at her just as she looked at him, though she looked away quickly with a blush.

 _What was that about?_ he wondered, intrigued despite the seriousness of the topic currently under discussion. Then the king began to speak, and his attention returned to him... although he wasn't going to forget that soft flush and odd look, he was just setting the matter aside for later consideration at a more appropriate time.

Seirei-o chuckled at the two standing before him, looking at him with almost identical confused but curious expressions, and shook his head. Things were going to be getting _very_ interesting around the celestial realm in the near future, he could already tell.

"The Joining," he began, "is something that has only happened twice before since the creation of the universe. It is only necessary when a constellation gains a spirit that was once human. I believe this one will be quite intense, since you are much more powerful than they are, and the constellation you have become is also. Speaking of which, it must be done now. Until it is completed you cannot leave the celestial world, and you will continue to feel unsettled and disconnected."

Two sharp inhales of breath met his words.

"You mean... I _can_ go back home?"

Seirei-o frowned slightly. "This is now your home, Eridanae," he said, his voice going a little stern. "But like any other spirit, you can go to the mortal realm for short periods of time. Your old friends are not completely lost to you, though those relationships will never be the same, since you are no longer human."

"But how will she go to Earthland if she doesn't have a key and a summoner?" Loke asked, just as perplexed as Lucy appeared to be. _I've never heard of this 'Joining' before._ _How could there be so much that I didn't know about my own reality?_

Not having ever been human himself, he'd never needed to participate in such a... ceremony? Ritual? Frankly, whatever it was, this whole thing was giving him a headache, trying to take in everything that had happened and that he was now learning. He glanced guiltily at his mistress at that thought... how much more frightening and bewildering this must be for her, and yet here he was, thinking about himself and his own disturbed and muddled mental state. He instantly felt shamed.

"Can you not force your way into the mortal realm? I said that Eridanae does not have a key – not that she does not have a _gate_ ," the giant spirit rumbled, and Leo blinked as he took in that answer, his attention arrested.

That was true enough, he thought, as he looked back at the conversation earlier between the three of them. But at the time he'd been so overwhelmed with other questions that hadn't even occurred to him.

A cold feeling in his hand reminded him of the smoothie Mira had sent for the blonde, and he blinked, surprised he'd forgotten he was holding it – and equally surprised she hadn't _noticed_ him holding it. "Oh, uh, here," he began a little self-consciously, "Mira sent this for you, she said they help you calm down when you're stressed out," as he proffered her the glass. _Dammit, how do you do this to me? No other woman has ever managed to muddle my head like you do. It's so hard to maintain my composure around you!_

Lucy's eyes widened and filled with sparkles, and true to Mira's word she pounced him, immediately going after the smoothie like it was her last link to her lost humanity.

"Loke," she trilled after she took a nice, long slurp, "I could just kiss you for this! And Mira, too! Oh, this tastes so good," she moaned as she took another drink, not noticing as the lion's face suffused with color and his eyes went hot at her sounds of enjoyment. "This was just what I needed." _Oh, yes, I really needed this. Yum!_ The young woman felt a little more grounded now, not quite so cut off from everything that had been her world, with the evidence that it still existed... for now.

But the vast difference in how time ran between the realms was something she could deal with later... right at the current moment it was just too much to think about on top of everything else.

She glanced over at Loke when he cleared his throat, and wondered why he looked flushed all of a sudden. She frowned. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked in concern, still sipping her smoothie.

 _Am I okay? What an interesting question._ There were several ways he could answer that. He folded his arms across his chest as he weighed what he should say, but finally he chose the safe path. Riling her formidable temper at this point would not be healthy for him. "I'm fine," he replied - and then, completely unable to resist, he added with a wink, "But feel free to kiss me anytime you feel the urge, beautiful." _That much should be safe enough, at least_ , he thought.

Both were torn from their little exchange by the booming laugh of the celestial king, and even Leo couldn't help but blush at Seirei-o's knowing expression. _Dammit, I forgot he was there again! Focus, you stupid flirt! You can think about her and kissing and.. other things... later. Yeah, later. Definitely later._

He cleared his throat again and prompted, "So Lucy has to complete this 'Joining'. Why have I never heard of that before? You said it's happened two other times."

The king inclined his head. "Yes. However, you had not been born at that point. That's why you don't know."

"Uh... born?" Lucy asked curiously, unable to help herself. It was kind of helping her to focus on other things than her own situation, and she had to admit, she was learning more about the celestial realm than she'd ever thought she would. And since it was a subject that had always fascinated her... she wouldn't turn away the chance to learn more.

She snorted inwardly, peeved at the fates when that thought registered. _I guess I'm going to be learning a_ _lot_ _more than I'd ever thought to – in a much more personal way, too._

"Yes, _born_. When the last star that makes up a constellation comes into existence, if it is powerful enough, it sparks a consciousness to also come into being at that same moment. This is how a celestial spirit is born. But when the consciousness is sparked instead by a human soul I must become involved, so the process is a little different – though essentially the same, in that the merging of spirit and constellation is exactly as intense and complete. You will be just as much a celestial spirit as Leo or any of the others, the different manner of your birth meaning nothing at all."

Lucy blinked. "Oh." Then she glanced over at a so-far silent Loke, and blinked again at the rather bewildered expression on his face. _So I guess these were things he didn't even know. Huh,_ echoed repeatedly through the sudden white-out in her mind.

She struggled her way through it and forced a question out.

"Um... so... it sounds like the Joining is basically the way a human spirit is birthed into the stellar world."

Seirei-o looked pleased. "Quite so. And that is why we must go now, for the river is about to be born into the fullness of her power, and renew and replenish all of the heavens. I will summon the rest of the celestial realm to witness it. This is a good day for our world," he finished, actually sounding quite happy.

"Go... where?" the blonde asked, feeling a large swell of trepidation, but also, oddly, a strange yearning and a pull – as if she were being beckoned somewhere. She put a hand to her heart – the void she'd felt in it since waking had begun to pulse, almost as though in expectation. It ached.

"To Eridanus. We go to the river and gather along its banks," Seirei-o said in a suddenly much more vast voice, one that echoed throughout the celestial realm. "The time has come, one who was once Lucy Heartfilia, for you to take your place in the heavens."

He paused, then added... "If you've finished your drink?" in a more normal tone.

The disconnect between dire and slightly humorous froze her and she looked dumbly down at the now-empty glass in her hands as her mind ran in warped little circles and screamed. She felt detached from herself, one side terrified to death, and the other dazed. _I guess this is what it's like to be in shock,_ she thought remotely. And then it all began to crash in on her, and she started to hyperventilate.

Wide eyes turned from the cup to look at Loke, who immediately responded to the panic beginning to manifest in them and was instantly at her side.

"It's okay, Lucy, just breathe," he murmured soothingly as he took the glass from her and tossed it off onto a convenient side table, pulling her gently into his arms. "Just breathe. I'm here with you, and I'll always be here with you."

Shaking with the fear of fully letting go of her now-questionable humanity, she could do little more than nod as he tried to calm her, the pull in her heart and the feelings swirling through her along with the panic rendering her momentarily speechless, unable to articulate her state of mind. She couldn't even bring herself to care about the presence of the celestial king, who was watching them with unfathomable eyes.

In that few seconds time slowed; she clung to the only safe haven she had left and trembled like a leaf.

"Promise me," she whispered through a tight throat. "Promise me you'll never leave. I don't think I could take it if you did."

He clutched her closer. _I'll never leave you, Lucy. Never. I will be by your side forever._

"I promise."

He felt a click and then a sensation of something sliding into place like a key into a lock, and knew she had accepted his vow – and would hold him to it.

The thought pleased him greatly. Now they would ever be tied by bonds too strong to break.

Lucy clung harder to the only thing she had left that also had ties to her world... her _former_ world, her mind echoed mournfully. She'd never felt so alone as she did in that moment, and if it weren't for the man she was held so securely against, she'd have flown apart into a million pieces. As it was she felt shattered, her psyche fragmented and tossed to and fro.

In everything that had happened, she'd lost herself.

 _Who am I, really?_

But as much as she fought it, she couldn't deny the call of the power that was beckoning to her, and she found that she knew exactly where she needed to go. The knowledge pulsed gently inside her, just beneath her heart. It was like an alien consciousness within her, yet so oddly _familiar,_ as if she'd known it somewhere before. Maybe she had. At this point, she wouldn't discount anything.

Her fingers clenched in Loke's suit jacket, and she drew in a deep breath. It was time to face what her future had become – she could no longer hide from it. Closing her eyes for a second outside of time – standing in the exact center of her own proverbial moon bridge - she allowed herself to mourn her past.

A single tear slipped down her cheek in response... and then she shut it all away and forced herself to move forward.

She opened her eyes and slowly (and rather reluctantly) pulled away from her safe harbor and smiled at him with an aching sadness. "I guess we'd better go then, huh? No getting out of it."

Loke searched her eyes, another jagged tear opening on his heart at the wounded but resolute look in them as her lower lip trembled. She was so precious when she was trying to be strong. She seemed so tiny and fragile, though he knew she wasn't – she was _fierce_. It was an odd dichotomy, such a strange melding of two opposites, and yet so very enticing. Her nature had always drawn him, from the very first time he'd seen her. It had called to his own feline nature, what with its inherent sensuality and hidden passion.

It always would.

He smiled softly for her, despite what it cost him, and said, "It'll be alright, you'll see," encouragingly.

Lucy nodded solemnly, something delicate but so very enduring growing in her gaze as she looked up at him. _Trust._ "Okay," she replied in a small but determined voice. "I'm ready."

It was only her faith in him that let her say that and mean it.

He tilted his head to her, his smile widening a little as he began to fade away. "Then I'll see you there, beautiful."

With a final deep inhale, Lucy closed her eyes and let herself fall backwards into eternity.

~~LoLu~~

It was a strange feeling, an odd duality, being engulfed in power and formed of it, and yet with her human consciousness still there. But she could sense the otherworldly, foreign presence that had been crying out from within her since waking now reaching up to enfold her in its frigid heat, and could do nothing to fight it. It was far too strong.

She felt like a phantasm, not real and yet more real than life itself, storm-tossed but calm, weak yet more powerful than creation. She raced through the fabric of the universe, one with it and apart in the same instant – which lasted mere seconds and forever.

In the end, there were no words. Language had never been meant to describe such a fundamental and sacred reality.

Light-years ahead a great swell of power grew ever higher, more joining it as all the constellations of the heavens that had a consciousness flocked to the banks of the great celestial river she could finally see, as eternity dawned in kaleidoscope colors over it. A stellar wind increased the swells making the surface choppy, magic curling off of it as it spread out and surged through the skies. It was glorious and so profoundly warm, utterly unlike anything she'd ever imagined, every color she'd ever seen and ones she had no name for illuminating the waters.

Just as she reached a point above the river's horizon, a bright arc of blue-white light flashed from it and crashed into her. She screamed, her consciousness expanding in a torrent of lambent fire. Her eyes closed in something just this side of agony as it enfolded her, and she let go of herself, of who she'd always been.

There was nothing of humanity in her in that moment, not even the memory of it. Instead, that alien something inside her was everything that she was, and she could feel the tendrils of the river's power sending a deluge of magic throughout the realm as the last star in her exploded into life. The beam of racing light that was what had once been simple Lucy Heartfilia narrowed and lengthened.

But despite the heat of her own newfound glory there was still that empty pulse inside her heart, a space that was calling to her with a voice more profound than any she'd ever heard – though it wasn't really an _audible_ sound, rather something so deep as to be felt in a more fundamental way than mere sound ever could be.

And then words ran through her mind in lines of fire, and she spoke them without even thinking as the signatures of power from every gathered spirit continued to swell ever higher with exaltation.

"Achernar, Kursa, Acamar, Zaurack, Rana, Sadira, Theemin, Sceptrum. Azha, Beid, Rabah Al Nahr, Keid, Angetenar, Zibal. By the light of the stars of Eridanus I am born and made whole. Complete in aspect and mind now am I, one with the stellar realm and bound by its laws."

Power coiled and snapped, bleeding outward from the spectacularly glowing river, from one end of it to the other. Lines shot from Achernar in the south to the last star in the north, all eighty-seven major and minor stars of the river burning with a new fervor as her consciousness arced and flitted across the crashing waves that raged across her surface.

Suddenly, just as the final line of the constellation fell into place, all the power sucked back into her in a flashing lightening storm and vanished as though pulled into a black hole. It was the most painful thing she'd ever experienced, and it seemed to last forever. The celestial realm went dark, and Eridanae floundered, frighteningly cut off from herself and frigidly cold for several endless-seeming seconds...

Light opened back up within her and exploded outwards from the river, sending power crashing through her and the skies with potent and life-giving force.

It was then that Seirei-o took her in hand and sealed her bond to the laws she'd just accepted as her own. As he did, the void* that had existed within her heart slowly began to fill, sheer, intoxicating magic unlike anything she'd ever tasted ascending warmly inside it.

 _Am I... everything and everywhere or nothing and nowhere?_ It was a distant thought, a remote reverberation that barely skimmed the surface of her mind. Nonetheless, it was a valid question at that point in time, because she felt connected to everything and yet more tightly focused as a singular being than she ever had as a human.

Slowly, ever so slowly the magic dimmed in a rather strange manner, not fading, but almost seeming to blossom instead. Tendrils reached out from her being, and with a suddenness that shocked her, the reality of all the other constellations sharpened and snapped into place inside her. Her power had reached out to them all and was renewing them, augmenting their own life-forces. All across the cosmos aging stars brightened, new stars exploded into life, and nebulae formed as the creation of new stellar bodies quickened.

She understood now, what Seirei-o had meant about her birth bringing new life and power to the celestial world.

She could feel all her spirit friends if she just looked inside herself, connected as she was to them as she shared her life-giving and renewing power with everything across the realm. But strongest of all she could feel Leo, his awareness glowing and entirely unique from all the others. Deliberately she reached out to him with her power, giving him _more_ , all her emotions for him surging inside her. They colored everything she did in those eternities spent forging the bonds that Joined her to herself and the rest of the stellar realm.

Love, vast, ancient, and pure rushed outward from her in a warm fire that engulfed the skies and all the spirits, a celebration of birth, life, and strength that rang from one end of the heavens to the other – then returned to engulf her in the heat of forever and the love of all the other heavenly bodies.

That sacred emotion really did make spirits stronger, just as Leo had told her.

The river glowed with joy, spreading that feeling throughout the heavens as the vow she'd spoken and all her being finally locked into place, irrevocable and unbreakable. Her power coiled around her and then settled almost gently inside her as she took a physical form once more.

Celestial water rose from the surface as she settled just above the waves and glowed golden, blue, and white, wrapping around and flowing continuously over her. To all the spirits she was absolutely beautiful as her eyes opened, their depths now filled with vistas of eternal stellar glory as light and the opposing night of the heavens whirled and dipped in a soaring dance within them.

The Joining was complete, and Lucy Heartfilia and Eridanae were now one and the same, inseparable and absolute – flawless and infinite.

 _I know who I am now..._

 _I know._

~~LoLu~~

To Leo, his princess looked more regal than he'd ever imagined as she dawned above the river and glowed with the all the glory of the heavens, sending his heart into his throat. He was utterly in awe of her and what her birth into his world had done for it.

 _She was always beautiful... but now she's so much more - absolutely without compare. _Of course, she already had been within his heart, her beauty made so in his eyes because of his love for her. But now... now there was nothing like her in the spirit world or the mortal one, every line, every dip and curve perfected as the waters of the river flowed over her like a living gown, clothing her in celestial splendor.

He'd felt what she'd done, giving him more of her power than anyone else, and he felt stronger than he ever had before, magic crashing through and burning him with amazing heat. He felt infinite, like he could take on whole armies and prevail with a mere thought. But above and beyond anything else, he felt her love for all of them, pure and unshakable – and far more immense and true than even he'd believed.

He was altogether humbled by her, filled with wonder. His love for her surged up within him like an uncontrollable tide in response, and he allowed all of it to skip through the link he felt to her, wanting her to feel his care, his adoration for her. He knew he might be giving himself and the truth of the _manner_ in which he loved her away, but in that moment he couldn't really bring himself to care. Even if she didn't feel for him in the same way, he was in love with _her_ and always would be. Her return feelings towards him had no influence on that at all.

But he still had hope. They were tied by bonds even tighter than what now held her to the celestial realm, his vow to always stay by her side and her acceptance of it something unbreakable and permanent. He knew she loved him, too... he just wasn't sure _how_ she loved him.

Helpless to stop himself, he would do everything in his power to woo her, to win her heart. After all, he had time now, what with her new immortality. He smiled. Forever had never looked so promising.

What was that saying again? Hope springs eternal?

Truer words had never been spoken.

~~LoLu~~

A/N: Phew! That was one of the hardest chapters I've ever written! Trying to describe in words what I could see in my mind was an imposing task, especially since mere words could never really do it justice. But I think I did okay – I'm content with it, at least. And we got some rather important Loke/Lucy interaction, too.

For anyone that likes to listen to mood music while reading, I wrote this chapter to three AMAZING tracks that can be found on YouTube. Pantheon, by Sound Adventures, Phantasm, by Jesper Kydd, and Pluto Reborn, by James Paget. This chapter wouldn't have turned out nearly as well as it did without these epic compositions.

*The void I described in the heart of Eridanus exists. It is called the Eridanus Supervoid. It is a place approximately one billion light-years across where no stars, galaxies, or other stellar bodies are to be found. It is the second largest known Supervoid, only exceeded so far by one found in Canes Venatici.

All that said, I hope everyone enjoys this installment!


	13. Chapter 13

~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 13**

~~LoLu~~

"So... nice place you've got here," Loke began conversationally as he transitioned into sight and slowly approached his mistress. He crouched down near her and waited a little cautiously for her to respond to his words or his presence – or anything, actually.

While he waited, he glanced around one more time. _Wow._ He wasn't lying – Lucy'd just created herself a very beautiful waterfront home. Apparently with barely a thought, though now she appeared to be thinking, all right – perhaps a little too much. Then again, she tended to do that with a lot of things.

"Princess?" he finally prompted after a few minutes when she still hadn't responded. "Are... you okay?"

Now it was her turn to ponder those words, and she laughed a bit harshly. _Okay? Umm... no? This is going to take a long time to get used to, to get my life back to any semblance of normal. I don't think that really fits my definition of okay._ "It's gonna be a while before I can say that, Loke," she finally replied. "I might know who I am as a celestial spirit now, but it doesn't mean I'm comfortable with it all yet. Right now, one side of me is Eridanae, and the other is Lucy. Melding the two together is not going to be easy – or quick."

Leo nodded after a moment, though he couldn't really _understand_ when it came down to it. He'd never had to face such a division inside himself, since he had only and ever been the celestial lion, born into the stellar world in the same manner most of the other spirits had been.

Although... this whole thing, and Seirei-o's earlier insinuation about he and Lucy and Leo Minor, had gotten him wondering. If a celestial spirit was born on its own by its own power, then what would he and Lucy having a child have to do with anything? If a self-sparked birth was indeed the way things worked, then why would a spirit even need to have the _capability_ of procreation?

 _Hm. Interesting question._ He glanced at Lucy and made a mental note to ask the king about that the next time he caught him.

In the meantime... "Umm, hey," he began as he cautiously took a seat next to her, "I know you've been through a lot since waking up, but I'm afraid to say there's more that needs to be dealt with like... now. It can't be put off. Oh, and everyone sends their hello's - by way of Levy."

That tore another laugh from her, though this one was a little less harsh. She nodded and finally looked over at him. She just studied him for a moment, her expression even and giving nothing away, then said, "Well, you want to explain what these other things are that can't wait?"

"Your stuff that's still back at your old apartment, and the money from the sale of your estate," he replied after a pause as he returned her regard. That brought back to mind that odd look and blush from her earlier, and his eyes narrowed just slightly as he watched her, wondering about it again. However, he didn't mention anything, not yet. There would be a far more appropriate time for that at some other point.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, damn, I forgot," she breathed, panicking just a little. "Not my stuff at my apartment, but the estate. Is Nilson still holding onto the money?"

Loke snorted. "Not hardly," he huffed. "Bastard dumped it off with the guildmaster, then dropped you as a client. Makarov's holding it for you in the guild vaults. He said he didn't mind doing so for as long as you needed him to, but that your landlady wouldn't be so understanding."

The young woman cringed at the thought of her crotchety... about-to-be _former_ landlady. _Well, at least I won't have to worry about rent and things like that ever again. Silver linings..._ "That's an understatement," she agreed with a pout. "Wonderful. I suppose I need to figure out how to force my gate open so I can go back and pack everything and move it all somehow." She made a sour face. "I really hate moving."

"Well, you'll certainly have a beautiful place to put it all," he pointed out, looking around yet again. "I'd... be honored if you'd show it to me - once moving's all taken care of, of course. But you know you still have me and your other spirits, right?" he went on without pause, giving her no real chance to react or respond to his request. "We can all help you relocate your stuff back here. It won't be so bad, you'll see - it'll probably be the easiest move you'll ever make, actually."

"Wait... I can still keep your keys? How does _that_ work? How can a spirit keep the keys for other spirits?" she asked, more focused on that than his last statement.

"Huh. Guess you didn't get that far in your discussion with Seirei-o." The lion shrugged – he didn't mind explaining what he could. "He said that since you hadn't died, and hadn't done anything to break our contracts, there was nothing in the laws against you keeping our keys, so... none of us have to worry about an unkind master ever again." Loke glanced at her again and then down as he remembered Karen and how she'd treated his poor little lamb friend. "I'm happy about that for all our sakes, but to be honest, I'm more relieved for Aries than any of the rest of us."

Lucy nodded as she thought about that, then frowned as some very new instinct prodded her. "Not that I actually need the keys, anymore."

He considered her words. "I suppose not," he finally agreed. "Really, I guess they're nothing more than a symbol, now. But that's okay, I'm good with that." He paused, then asked, "Do you need me to show you how to force your gate?"

"No," the blonde returned slowly after a few seconds searching her mind, "I don't, now that I think about it. It's not really any different than what I've been doing all my life by being a spirit mage."

"Okay. Then we should probably get going – it's already been another week or so for the guild." Loke pulled a face. "That time difference... always before I simply took it for granted, you know? It was just the way things were, and that never mattered. But now, since my exile and then you, it's beyond irritating." He looked out at the skies above the river – which Lucy had decided to create her home on an island in the middle of – and sighed. "And... saddening. I'd never really made friends with humans before, but now I've got a few, and watching them all fade away is not something I'm looking forward to."

Some might have thought him a little insensitive to be bringing such a thing up to a young woman still barely able to even accept everything that was coming at her, but really, he was just trying to re-emphasize that she wasn't alone. He could understand and empathize with at least a part of what she was going through now and would later, even if he could never have claimed a shred of humanity himself – because her coming losses were his, as well. It gave them a common ground she could never have with any of the other spirits, because none of them had ever _been_ human, or exiled from the spirit world and forced to _live_ as one for as long as their body held out.

It was just another link in the ties that now lay between them, which Loke welcomed with open arms. The more he could entwine himself irrevocably in her life, the better his chances of one day gaining his heart's desire.

Lucy exhaled slowly, her eyes flickering darkly as she acknowledged those coming losses. "Yeah," she replied, subdued. "I'm glad that at least I have you with me, though. I don't think I'd survive this if I had to go it alone."

"As long as I exist, Princess, you won't ever have to 'go it alone'," he assured her once more. He reached over and ran a finger down her jawline in a feather light caress with a smile. Then, deciding that it was time to attempt a distraction, he nudged her and leaped lightly to his feet, holding out a hand for her. "But hey, we need to get a move on. Last time I took a couple of hours getting back and nearly got Natsu-fist in the face practically before I could finish coming through my gate."

The blonde took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. "Now why am I not surprised?" she asked rhetorically as she gained her feet, allowing him to divert her attention from the depression she could feel hovering just over her shoulder – and the way his little, offhand caress had sent her body, mind, and heart into a frenzy of longing. She wanted him _so much,_ but would forever be silent about it, because her feelings would in the end only drive him away, she was sure of it. She sighed inwardly. "He can be so impulsive sometimes."

Leo snickered underneath his breath. "Sometimes? Don't you mean _all_ the time?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she acknowledged wryly. "And he'll never change, either. It's a good thing Erza's still there to keep him in check, otherwise Fiore might be in more danger than it already is with him running around."

The lion could do nothing but agree with that, because it was quite strictly true. If Natsu were left to his own devices, whole countries would catch fire and burn to the ground. "Give me a minute," was all he said though, as he glowed golden for a few seconds and then reappeared in casual clothes. It had already been a hell of a long day, and he needed the break from the suit.

On the upside, he was no longer feeling tired. All that power Lucy had fed him earlier during the Joining had completely erased any signs of fatigue, and he still felt like he could take on the world, even if it had been a long day already.

Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly over yet.

The newest celestial spirit eyed the lion sideways with a slight blush, and bit her lip. She always loved the way he looked, him in a suit with that copper fringe of his framing his gorgeous face and eyes enough to make her weak in the knees. But there was just something about him when he went casual. Maybe it was because he'd rarely worn anything _but_ suits since returning to the spirit world, or maybe it was just because she knew that the few times he'd worn such simple clothes since were some of the only times she'd seen him really at his ease.

Either way though, he looked damn good in that olive green jacket of his, a fitted black t-shirt, and... oh, stars, were those... black jeans? Lucy had actually never seen him wear denim before, and boy did he look _good_ in it. _Yeah, it's definitely the man that makes the clothes, not the other way around – at least in Loke's case. It_ _has_ _to be a sin to covet that man's perfect body._

… _And once again, I need to remind myself of leagues, and what's_ _not_ _in mine._ She sighed, irritated at herself and her stubborn feelings for the lion. They just wouldn't _die_.

It still hadn't occurred to her that even _if_ Loke had cared whether she was human or not, she no longer was.

Her (former) mortality was a hindrance no longer... not that it ever really had been anywhere except inside her own mind.

She blinked as the man in question waved a mystified but amused hand in her face, and her flush deepened as she realized that she'd been staring at him – and quite blatantly, too.

Loke chuckled at his mistress. She had gotten so flustered right then, and he wasn't _entirely_ certain why – though he had his suspicions. So, maybe it was a little bit of ego on his part, but he knew he looked good in jeans, and that Lucy hadn't seen him in them before. And since he was determined to win her over, he wasn't above using almost any tactic to entice her – including _those_ particular ones.

"Maybe you'd like to change, too?"

"Eh?"

He laughed. He couldn't help it. "Lucy, where'd your mind run off to?" he teased as he peered at her. "You _are_ getting awfully red in the face. You wouldn't be thinking naughty things by any chance, now would you?"

"What? No!" she shrieked, folding her arms across her chest and glowering at him before glowing a gentle blue herself and changing her outfit in the same manner he had. "No way!" _Damn_ , _I'm such a liar..._

Another burst of laughter met her denial. "Mmhmm. _Suuure_ , I believe that."

"Ugh, let's just go," she growled after giving him one last quelling glare, which didn't appear to faze the lion in the slightest.

 _Of course._

"Anything you say, beautiful!"

 _Dammit, don't tempt me with open-ended statements like that, you stupid, sexy man. You might just get more than you bargained for!_

Lucy face-palmed, suddenly very angry with her traitorous brain. _Ugh, just stop! Stop thinking about that... that... him!_

Loke grinned at her, and with his eyes twinkling brightly and that sexy smile of his, she was doomed.

 _Utterly doomed_.

This wasn't going to end well, she could already tell.

~~LoLu~~

After a quick lesson from the zodiac leader on how to find her way to the guild through her own gate, Lucy made her first trip to Earthland as a celestial spirit.

She could immediately feel her energy being battered by the mortal plane, although it wasn't anything more than mildly annoying, like a barely-there itch you couldn't quite reach. It was easily ignored, however – especially when her ears were inundated by shouts of her name and she was pounced before she could even finish the transition. She'd known she was in for it when she got back to the guild, but she hadn't quite expected... this.

Although, she had to smile when she saw who was leading the charge.

She barely had time to brace herself before a tiny, blue-haired piece of dynamite tackled her with a glad shout of, "Lu-chan!" that was loud enough to alert Makarov all the way in his office that their only celestial spirit mage – and new spirit, herself – had finally returned.

"Levy-chan," she gasped, trying to keep her balance. She shot Loke, who had just appeared through his own gate next to her, a grateful glance when he reached out and steadied her. "Thank-you," she mouthed at him as she patted a crying blunette on the back, her expression a little overwhelmed as more friends moved in on her.

"Anytime, babe. That's what I'm here for," he murmured in deliberately husky tones into her ear with a mischievous grin she couldn't see.

She twitched as a frisson of pleasure shot down her spine in response, growling inwardly at the provocation. _He probably did that on purpose, the jerk!_ But she couldn't be certain, and with all their friends surrounding her she really didn't have the opportunity to turn and look at him and find out for sure, so she was forced to let the matter slide. _One of these days, though..._

Her mind was forced back to her friends when the blunette started speaking.

"Loke told us about what happened to you, and we want you to know we still love you, Lu-chan. You will always be a Fairy Tail mage, just like he is, even if you're a spirit now," Levy said fiercely, and a rousing cheer went up at her words.

Lucy was just so touched she couldn't even speak. It meant the world to her that her friends had missed her so much, but it also saddened her. Like the lion, she dreaded losing all those she cared for here, and even worse, because of the vast difference in time between the two realms she would be watching them all age and die within a year. All she would have with them now would be snippets of time, like a series of photographs, before they would be gone. Snapshots, stills, whatever you called them, they were in no way satisfying to the blonde – although they were better than nothing.

"Thanks, Levy-chan," Lucy finally managed with a somewhat damp smile as she passed out hugs and happy words to all the guildmembers surrounding her, Loke a now-quietly supportive presence at her back.

"Lucy!" someone else shouted... and suddenly everyone that had been pretty much right on top of her couldn't get away fast enough. With a wild shudder, she looked around for the owner of that voice, and cringed when she saw him.

This was going to hurt.

"Natsu!" she greeted with a slightly terrified smile as she pressed back into Loke, hoping he could manage to keep them all on their feet, because here came the fire mage, pelting towards the blonde at full speed. Just before impact, however, a wall of ice thrust upward from the floor, and the galloping slayer hit that, instead.

To both Lucy and Loke's eternal relief.

"Thanks, Gray," the lion breathed as the pink-haired teen crashed into it instead of the two of them. _He_ could have withstood the slayer's charge, but it probably would have hurt his beautiful princess, and he couldn't have that.

The ice mage nodded with a glare at Natsu, who was groaning and holding his head while laying flat on the floor. "He has no damn sense of restraint," he complained, making everyone who'd heard him laugh, because it was so patently true. "I'm glad to see you, Lucy. We were all really worried."

"I'm sorry, guys," she said contritely, feeling guilty for hiding the fact that she'd been ill from her friends. She'd been trying to keep from worrying them, but in the end she'd only ended up precipitating that very emotion.

"It's okay – just don't do something like that again," Erza spoke up for the first time, smiling gently at her blonde friend as she approached. Seeing the young woman swarmed by everyone else, she'd chosen to wait to greet her until most of them had moved away. "I know you were trying to keep from upsetting us, but we would rather be upset than forced to bury you."

It was so close to what Loke had said to her, and Lucy could do little but nod at the same sentiment from her other friends. "I promise," she replied solemnly. Before she could say anything else, however, the guildmaster approached.

Makarov glanced between she and Loke with something indefinable in his eyes, a look the blonde found off-putting. When the master looked like that, something serious was going on, and right now she didn't really feel up to any more nasty surprises.

Of course, when had her feelings on any subject _ever_ mattered? Life was such a bitch!

Despite the look in his eyes, he smiled gently at Lucy and moved to give her a hug of his own – watched a little closely by Loke, who knew just how the man's perverted mind sometimes worked. After all, his worked mostly the same way around beautiful women, and Lucy was a beautiful woman... with an amazing body.

But the little man didn't make any comments or even give a lecherous smirk, his expression remaining somber as he embraced the celestial mage. When he pulled away, he said, "Welcome back. We've missed you," softly. "It's good to see you looking so healthy again."

"Thank you, Master," she returned tearily as he moved back.

He nodded, then spoke again. "As joyous an occasion as this is, I'm afraid I need to speak to you, and you as well, Loke. There is serious business to discuss. If you would join me in my office?"

Lucy groaned inwardly but obeyed, following Makarov up the stairs and into the room he'd made into Fairy Tail's Command Central, so to speak. _Darn it!_

Loke's thoughts were echoing the blonde's with impressive accuracy as he trailed along behind her, but noting the uptick in her tension, _he_ scowled, not at all happy that there appeared to be something going on. Something that was about to affect his already-stressed out mistress, and make her anxiety and tension worse. _Will this crap never end?_ He also couldn't help but wonder why the rest of Team Natsu hadn't followed. What the hell could be going on that involved he and Lucy, but not the others?

Warning bells rang in his mind as they entered Makarov's private sanctum and took proffered seats. He wasn't sure what was up, but his instincts were screaming that whatever it was, he wasn't going to like it in the slightest.

Sometimes he really hated it when he was right.

Fairy Tail's master got right to the point.

"When it was confirmed that someone had been found using Marionette, I informed the authorities. After a two-month investigation, the mage that was teaching the others this forbidden magic was found. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone, and none of the agents sent to find out who he was could get close to him because of Marionette."

The guildmaster paused, looking grim, and neither of the two others in the room were very happy to hear the direction the conversation was going. Not that it would be hard to go in and get the man... at least, not if the other mages didn't decide to use some other form of magic against them to stop them. It looked as though this was a job that only the celestial spirits could do, though, no matter how you looked at it.

Of course, there was also Erza and her Nakagami armor, but she was only one person, and that crazy armor drained her magic fast. It limited the amount of help she would be able to give.

"You want us to go in and get him."

Makarov grinned tightly at Loke as he spoke, and nodded when he finished. "Yes. Since celestial spirits are immune to Marionette, you and the other spirits our only hope," he said candidly. "Humans can't get near him because of what that blasted magic does to us, so it's up to you. Since you are both still-active members of the guild in good standing, I decided to come to you with this."

The two glanced at each other, reluctant as hell, but knowing they were going to comply anyway. That mage couldn't be allowed to use such foul magic on anyone else – people could die from the darkness left behind and the attempts to purge it. Like Lucy almost had.

They couldn't in all good conscience turn the guildmaster's request down.

"We'll do it," Lucy spoke for both of them, the lion's consent to the mission already given in the look they'd exchanged.

Makarov's grin got positively evil. "I thought you would, but I'm glad to see I was right. This is the mission, then," and he went on to explain the details, such as location and number of enemies. "Orders are to do anything it takes to stop this man... up to and including killing him if you aren't able to restrain and deliver him to the authorities." His face was now solemn, and he leveled them with a stern look, weighing them both. Then he focused on Lucy. "I know you probably don't like that, but if there is no other choice, then you must stand firm and take him down for the good of the many. We don't need another Zeref."

The blonde shuddered and paled. No, they certainly didn't need such a disaster, the master was right about that. Zeref's machinations had ruined and destroyed many lives over a span of four hundred years, and she was pretty sure whoever it was that was using Marionette had as malevolent a heart – they had to.

"I understand, Master," she said softly, indeed not liking what she might be called upon to do, but comprehending it.

"Good. Then if there are no questions-" he glanced between them, and finished when they shook their heads, "-the sooner you head out, the sooner this will be over."

 _It can't be soon enough,_ Loke thought to himself, angry at what some fool with delusions of power and a sick mind was causing everyone, but especially his mistress. And that on top of everything else.

Once again, someone was going to pay for Lucy's now-disordered and stress-filled life. After all, if it weren't for the man running around _teaching_ that thrice-damned magic to others, she wouldn't be a spirit in the first place. And while he couldn't lie so baldly to himself, and he was happy he'd never have to lose her, he was still angry that her entire life and future had been uprooted in such a drastic manner.

He had no problem taking that frustration out in blood if it came down to it... and maybe even if it didn't. He'd already done it once before for her sake, so it really made no difference to him if he had to do it again.

~~LoLu~~

A/N: So FF's notification glitches are still ongoing, which is frustrating. For any and all reviews on this story, I want to thank the ones who took the time to review. Hopefully, FF will fix this mess, and sooner rather than later.


	14. Chapter 14

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 14**

~~LoLu~~

Loke turned to his mistress as they left Makarov's office, and coming to a halt in the hall, said, "I'll have Virgo open her own gate and pack up your apartment while we're gone. That way when we finish this, all we'll have to do is actually move your things, how's that sound?" proving to Lucy that he hadn't forgotten what they'd originally returned to Earthland for, before being sidetracked by the guildmaster and his request.

Feeling suddenly tired, way more than she had any real physical reason to be, the blonde's shoulders slumped as she also stopped and met his gaze. She nodded, then looked away. "Yeah, I guess," she answered in a tone of defeat. "Thanks."

The lion frowned, and unable to bear seeing her like that, reached over and cupped a cheek tenderly in one hand, turning her to face him again. "Hey," he said softly as he captured her eyes with his, "it's okay, Princess. If this mission is too much for you to handle right now, with everything else that's happened, I can take it on my own. Just let me know."

But Lucy had barely heard his words, a certain look in his eyes stealing her attention completely. It was gentle and rife with affection, and- _Does he...?_ Her recent Joining came suddenly to mind, and something that she'd vaguely noticed at the time prodded at her. He'd responded to the surfeit of power from her by surging something into the bonds she'd been maintaining with all the spirits - something that almost made it seem as though... _Could he really? No... no way. I must be imagining it._ She stared at him with wide eyes, but when he dropped his hand and prompted her to speak up with a furrowed brow, she just shook her head.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to space out on you," she grimaced and looked away once more, this time with a guilty blush. "Just feeling a little overwhelmed, I guess. What was the question again?"

Expression tightening with frustration and worry, Loke promptly said, "Nope. That's it, that's the last straw. You are going back to the spirit world right now, and I'm taking this one alone. Enough is enough."

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him incredulously. "Did... did you just... give me an order?" She was trying to decide whether she hated how it made her feel... or didn't really dislike it all that much. He'd never been one for trying to order her around, the few times he _had_ done it being when they were in a combat situation. She had no problem with it then because he was much more experienced than she was when it came to such things.

This... this was different.

"Yes, I did," he replied flatly, very unhappy with the whole situation, and not inclined to hide it. "And I'll keep doing it until you listen."

 _That_ got Lucy's fighting spirit back up on its feet and swinging. There was _no way_ she was letting him take a mission of this magnitude without her, no matter what he thought. It was far too dangerous.

"Now you wait just a damn minute there, buddy," she began hotly, jabbing a finger into a surprised lion's chest. "I think you're forgetting something here. I am an adult, and _not_ answerable to you. I already agreed to take on this job, and I won't go back on my word. If you don't like that, then _I'll_ go it alone and _you_ can go back home. Decide quickly, because I'm not waiting around."

"Lucy," he began incredulously, "you're pushing yourself too hard! You've been to hell and back these last few months, and it's showing. You look like you could shatter into a million pieces with just one more tiny blow! Why won't you listen for once and go back? You need the rest, the time to take in everything and regain your equilibrium. Please, just... just go back to the spirit world and recuperate from your ordeal."

He was practically begging her now, but as bad as she felt for worrying him with all this, she wouldn't yield to his wishes. This mission was too dangerous for him to take on by himself, no matter what he thought, and she couldn't lose him. While spirits were normally immortal, there were a few ways to kill them, and she wouldn't risk that happening. She just couldn't.

Shaking her head, she cut him off before he could say anything else. "No. I'm not going back. You aren't stupid, and you know this isn't a one-man job. I'm going, and that's final. Besides..." she forced a small smile, "this might actually help me, you know... a distraction from everything else that's going on. And I want to get my hands on this guy, anyway – everything that's happened to me lately is ultimately that bastard's fault," she added fiercely, anger sparking in her gaze as she thought about that aspect of the whole mess.

Loke couldn't deny her right to gain a little satisfaction from the man that had in the end been the cause of her current difficulties, but even knowing she had that right didn't make it any easier for him to swallow. He really didn't want her subjected to any more stress. He hadn't been exaggerating her condition – she looked like the smallest of breezes could knock her right off her feet and crush her.

Grimacing, he shifted his gaze away, not wanting her to see the frustration in it and misinterpret it. "Isn't there any way I can persuade you otherwise?"

Her answer was decisive and quite short. "No."

He couldn't stand that reply, despite the fact that he'd asked the question in the first place. Suddenly feeling desperate, and emboldened because of that, he backed her into the wall and stared down at her for several moments.

Eyes dropping from where they'd been locked on hers, he contemplated her lips for a few seconds, but when her tongue peeked out and ran along her bottom lip with nervousness, he couldn't hold out any further. He'd been longing to do this for far longer than he wanted to admit – even to himself.

Lucy had been completely taken off her guard when Loke had backed her into the wall, and even more so when he pressed himself against her, locking her in place. But when his eyes – those warm, gorgeous hazel eyes – had dropped to her mouth she'd frozen, unable to do anything more than lick her lips in anticipation of the kiss that was looking to follow. Because no matter how much she tried to deny it to everyone else, she had wanted this for so very long, and she didn't have the strength to push him away again. She just didn't.

It was everything she had ever dreamed of... and even more.

Despite the indecisive expression she'd noted in his eyes mere seconds before, there was no hesitation in his kiss. It was brazen and aggressive, taking her over from the first second his lips met hers. And she couldn't deny him what he was demanding from her, parting her lips for him almost immediately. When his tongue met hers in a rushed tangle of heat and need she moaned, completely unable to stop the sound.

The second Lucy welcomed him so compliantly and moaned at his touch, Loke lost any sense he'd ever had. He pressed himself to her even harder, his hands sliding up her arms and then around her back, tightening his hold on her. She didn't shy away from the affection in any way, answering his passionate advances with her own. He slid his tongue along hers, and groaned with pleasure at her response – and the sweet taste of her.

There was no telling how long the two would have stayed like that, their unspoken but mutual feelings and desire sending them up in flames, if the sound of someone clearing their throat hadn't interrupted. Even so, it took a few for either of them to even notice that they were no longer alone, caught up in the fire that had flared between them as they were.

"Okay, guys, I don't need to see that," came an amused voice, and slowly and very reluctantly, Loke pulled away from the woman in his arms.

He ripped his gaze away from the beauty of a flushed and hazy-eyed Lucy to glare at whoever had interrupted. "What do you want, Gray?" he gritted hoarsely as he stepped away from a now totally embarrassed young woman. _Dammit! Why?! Why the hell did he have to bother us? Now she's going to withdraw further inside her 'touch-me-not' shell and completely clam up. I'll never get her to fall for me at this rate._

"Nothing, really. I just thought you two might not want the entire guild in on your 'private moment' there, and if you'd stayed back here any longer, you'd have had everyone else watching you guys with glee. Not to mention the Master," the dark-haired man replied with amusement.

Loke just growled at the idea, but Lucy flushed even harder and dropped her head, hiding her eyes from the cause of her emotional torment as well as her friend, and pushed her way past the both of them.

"Perverts, all of you," she mumbled as she slid past. "And don't think that changed anything, Loke. I know that's why you did that. You were just trying to muddle up my thinking so you could get me to agree to stay behind. Well, it didn't work, because I'm still going."

Taken aback at that, the lion just gaped at her as she disappeared back into the main hall. While her stubborn refusal to go back to the spirit world and let him handle the current situation had been what had _precipitated_ that kiss, he couldn't believe that she thought that was the _reason_ he'd kissed her. It wasn't, not by a long-shot. He'd kissed her because he'd been unable to help himself... and because he loved her. "Wha-?" he sputtered, blinking in bewilderment.

… _Is she really that oblivious?_

"Yes, she's really that oblivious," Gray laughed aloud at the expression on his friend's face. When the lion glanced at him in confusion, he laughed even harder. "And no, you didn't say that out loud, but the look you gave was so clear you didn't need to. Lucy doesn't seem to really notice when a man has feelings for her. You're gonna have to get blunt before she'll realize you're interested in her as more than your keyholder and friend."

"That wasn't blunt enough?" he asked in disbelief.

"Nope. Not from you, at least."

The lion spluttered again and looked a little offended. "Why from _me_ in particular?"

"Because you're a playboy. From her point of view, you'd kiss just about any girl that way, since you seem to like women in general so much. She doesn't think she means anything more to you than any other woman you've gone after for a good time." Gray shrugged, looking quite amused at his friend's predicament. "You've got your work cut out for you convincing her otherwise, I think."

Loke scowled at the ice mage, despite the fact that it really was his own fault for being such a womanizer in the first place. "If I'm such a playboy, why did _you_ believe me when I told you I love her?"

The other man sobered at that, and shot a level look at his friend. "Because I'm outside the situation. I can see it clearly, whereas Lucy can't. Besides... I haven't forgotten the look on your face and in your eyes when you admitted to loving her back in that cathedral. That expression told me all I needed to know."

Shoulders slumping a little, the lion nodded. "I suppose you're right. But haven't any of you noticed that I haven't even really looked at another woman since the day she saved me? I'm not a-" he grimaced, "-playboy anymore. I only want one woman now. She doesn't seem to feel the same, though," he added as he looked down at the floor in an attempt to distance himself from the conversation, and his friend's knowing gaze.

He jerked his head back up when he felt something hit him in the back of it, and glowered at the ice mage, who was glaring right back at him.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"For being so damned dense," Gray returned bluntly. "Lucy's not you. She's never been the type to play around. The fact that she kissed you back should have told you all you needed to know. That was probably her first real kiss, you dumbass," he finished at the disbelieving look on the other man's face. "She wouldn't have responded to you that way if she didn't have feelings for you."

Despite his dislike for his sordid past with women being brought up when he just wanted to forget it and devote himself entirely to the blonde goddess who held his key, Loke couldn't deny that his friend was right. Lucy was not the type to seek physical pleasure without love. Was it truly possible? _Could_ she be in love with him? The mere idea was enough to make his heart pound in his chest with hope. If there was one thing that kiss _had_ proved, it was that she was at the least physically attracted to him, but again, she wasn't the type to give in to carnality for its own sake. And she had definitely responded to his touch.

However...

She was also under a great deal of stress at the current time, and with the way things had played out, he was now the one thing in her life that was constant, no matter which world she was in. After all, he would be with her for the rest of forever, while her friends here would eventually leave her behind to embrace the deadly fate of all mortals. Perhaps that was why she'd responded the way she had. His heart sank, and he shoved his hands into his pockets almost defensively.

"It's probably just because of everything that's happened to her lately. I'm the only constant in her life anymore, and she's confused and scared."

His answer was another slap to the back of the head, and an irritated scowl. "She's gone through other stressful events in her life, jackass, and yet she's never practically glued herself to anyone else and welcomed their advances. There've been a few that have tried to get any kind of interest from her, and yet you're the only one that's managed to, and without even really trying. Use your brains, man. All that previous experience of yours with women should have taught you _something_ about them."

Sure it had. But this was Lucy, and his emotions had never been engaged before. It made him doubt what his experience was telling him. While his head was pointing out that Gray was right, his heart was afraid the other man was wrong. He feared being rejected, just like most people in a situation like this. Hope did spring ever eternal, though, and he couldn't get his friend's words out of his mind.

"I..." he shook his head, "I just... don't know. I can't deny that I hope you're right, but..."

Gray exhaled deeply and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But trust me, Lucy has feelings for you – a lot of them, if that little display said anything at all. Just watch... you'll see I'm right. In the meantime, though, you'd best set that little matter aside and concentrate on your mission."

"You know what Makarov asked us to do?" Loke was a little surprised by that, but grateful for the change of topic. He wasn't really comfortable talking about his feelings for Lucy with anyone. If he was going to discuss them, it would be with the object of them, and no one else.

"Everyone knows. It's not exactly a new idea – hell, I was worrying about whoever it was that had taught Delenn that monstrous magic when we went after them to take Lucy back. And knowing that humans can't get near the person using that power, it didn't take much to put two and two together to get four. It was a rather foregone conclusion that you and the other spirits would be asked to take him out, since we can't."

Loke nodded. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Well, then you'd better get out there and corner your partner. You guys are going to need to have a pretty solid plan before going in," Gray replied.

Something occurred to the lion just then. "Hey... I wonder if Marionette would work on the Exceed?"

The ice mage blinked. "Uhm, well, that's a good question. But it doesn't really matter anyway, since Wendy, Romeo, Charle, and Happy are all out on a mission of their own right now."

"Oh. That's why I didn't see them when we first got back."

Gray chuckled. "Yup. That's exactly why they weren't in the middle of that pile of people glomping poor Lucy when you guys appeared out of the blue like that."

Without further ado the two walked back out into the main hall and looked around for the blonde. When they spotted her at a table talking to several people, they both headed in her direction. The rest of Team Natsu might not be able to actually participate in this particular mission, but they could most definitely help with the planning of it, and they all had every intention of doing so.

For his part, Loke would gladly listen to whatever suggestions the others had, because every little bit of help they could give would only make this mission that much safer for his mistress.

Everything else – _his torrid emotions and desire for Lucy_ \- could wait.

~~LoLu~~

After a several-hour conference with the rest of the team, Levy, and Gajeel, Loke and Lucy retired to the celestial realm for a few seconds in order to refresh themselves and replenish their energies. Once that was done, they returned to the guild and then set out for their destination.

They didn't take anything special along, although Lucy had her keys, as usual. The train ride was a little tense, as she hadn't really said a word to him directly since that kiss. He was okay with that, though. It gave her a chance to put a little distance between what had happened and herself.

While he was most definitely nervous, worried that Gray was wrong and she didn't truly have feelings for him, Loke couldn't help himself. He'd long-since decided to try to gain her heart, no matter what. He had eternity now, after all, and he would use every second of it to try and entice her to his side.

Finally, just as the train pulled into their destination, he broke the silence. He'd decided that it was probably best for now to act like nothing had happened. He didn't want to push her too fast, especially as she was very fragile at the current time.

"I'm glad I wasn't partnered with Erza for this, even though I still wish that you would go back to the spirit world."

Lucy blinked, her brow furrowed in confusion at the conversational topic he chose to introduce. She had expected... something else. "What? Why? She's much stronger than me. She'd probably be a lot more help than I'll be."

The lion frowned disapprovingly at her. "First, I really wish you'd stop putting yourself down like that. "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. Second, in this situation Erza would only be able to provide minimal help, leaving me to take care of most of it by myself. Makarov was right – humans can't handle this mess, so it's up to us. And third-" his frown deepened, "-you're perfect as you are, even though I know you're always trying to make yourself better. But see, you can't improve on perfection, so it's mostly a wasted effort, beautiful."

The young woman blushed and gaped at him. _Does he really see me that way? I... what do I say to something like that? Thank you? That doesn't seem nearly enough..._

Her companion chuckled, knowing what she was thinking by the look on her face. "You don't have to say anything in return, love. I said that because it's true. And the truth will remain true, whether it's verbally acknowledged or not. So don't worry about it." He glanced out the window then, and his face tightened. "We should get moving. We don't want to miss our stop."

Completely flustered by his words, Lucy stood up a little unsteadily. She couldn't even look at him, she felt so shy. "Yeah, don't want to do that. I've got a jerk to beat the hell out of for the mess he's made of my life."

Loke winced at that sentiment, but he understood why she felt the way she did. He stood up and gently ushered her to the exit, watching her face on the sly. "You'd better leave some for me, too, Princess," was all he said, though.

"From what the Master explained, there's plenty to go around," she muttered, a dark look on her face. The more she thought about this guy, the angrier she got – and she didn't feel bad for that. The desire to take out her frustrations on the one responsible gave her something to focus on, and right now, she needed that. She'd worry about everything else later.

"Yeah, but first we need to get in touch with Makarov's contact. He's holed up at the inn here in town. Once we reach him we can get all the info available on what's going down," he replied in a low tone, putting a hand to Lucy's back to escort her to the front of the car. "We don't want to talk about this anymore until we get there," he added in a quick whisper to her ear.

He didn't need to draw the blonde a picture, and she nodded very slightly. "Right."

Loke took the lead and stepped down onto the platform, then held a hand up to his mistress.

Lucy paused for a moment as the station sign came into view, welcoming newcomers to Garnet, and stared at it. A gaggle of crows cawed off to the side, and she felt an odd, but vague sense of forewarning. She shook her head, frowning as she looked around for whatever was making her feel that way, but couldn't find anything overtly threatening. She took her lion's outstretched hand, and stepped down from the car. Peaceful on first look, nonetheless, this place gave her the creeps...

"I don't think I'm going to like it here."

Loke'd taken the words right out of her mouth.


	15. Chapter 15

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 15**

~~LoLu~~

The inn at one end of the small town of Garnet was comfortable enough, Lucy was surprised to find, though nothing special. It truthfully seemed like a thousand other inns that could be found anywhere in Fiore, just as the town itself seemed.

On the surface.

But look just beneath, and everything changed.

 _This place is just a... a facade,_ Lucy thought to herself as she looked around, trying to keep her interest casual. She didn't want to give them away to anyone who might be watching – and there _were_ things watching. That much was entirely clear just from the feel of the eyes on her skin. She just wasn't sure who was _doing_ the watching – or what they were looking for.

She glanced at her companion, wondering what he was sensing. _I'll ask him when we're alone and safe from prying eyes and ears,_ she decided. For some reason, she was very interested in Loke's impressions of this place. _Of course, he'd already said he wasn't going to like it here, but he didn't really elaborate, not that he really could right then, I suppose._

Unfortunately, the damned man was still wearing those black jeans and that half-unbuttoned matching shirt, and though the look was very casual, it was also very enticing. The part of Lucy's brain not concentrated on their surroundings was quite well enjoying the visual, and cheerfully taunting her with said enjoyment on the return.

Loke, at least, looked completely unaware of her scrutiny, and it was possible he was – he was a lion on the hunt, all his senses peeled to their circumstances. Lucy pouted at herself in realization. Here she was lusting over her lion, and he was paying attention to what he should be – their mission. Time to take herself in hand, then.

Forcibly returning her attention strictly to their surroundings, she found herself assisted by a strange feeling that teased at her for fragments of a second, and then faded. She almost stopped in surprise at the feel of it and then its disappearance, but managed to keep moving like nothing was wrong. Though the citizens seemed all that was normal, there was no telling whether they were or not, so she couldn't afford to be careless.

Her stride hitched once again just momentarily, this time enough for Loke to notice, before she continued on. "What's wrong, love?" he asked in a careless manner, wanting to appear as nothing more than an innocent couple visiting the area. "Feeling a little under the weather? That train ride was a little rough, I know," he continued, mostly for the benefit of the people around them so as not to arouse any suspicion.

It took the blonde a moment to figure out what he was doing. "Oh! Um, yeah, sorta," she agreed, looking away a little tiredly. It was no stretch, she _was_ tired, though not physically. "It's just been a really, really long day," she finally sighed. Then she smiled a little and reached for his arm, letting him lead her. "But I'll be okay once we get a room and can get some sleep."

The lion watched her from beneath a copper fringe, his eyes sharp for just a moment, and then he nodded. "The inn should be right up ahead, we'll be there momentarily, beautiful. Just hang in a few more minutes."

She gave him a small, sleepy smile. "Okay."

Loke's heart pounded hard just once at the sight. She looked adorable right then, rubbing at weary eyes like a small child who'd stayed up too late and just wanted their bed. He smiled a little to himself at the thought as he reached out and slid open the doors for them, then guided her into the reception area. There appeared to be a decent amount of activity in the place as he looked appraisingly around, nothing suspicious to meet the eye. Though he was just as convinced as he'd been the moment they'd stepped off the train that this place was anything but innocent, it certainly conveyed that visual perfectly.

Without a further word he started for the clerk, who was eyeing them with a bland, polite smile and slightly inquisitive look.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"I'd like a single room, please," he replied with a charming return smile. He tightened his fingers around Lucy's hand as her own twitched when he asked for a single, but she didn't respond to that in any other way, which he was glad for. He hadn't really thought to mention that in order to pull off their cover, which was a simple tourist couple, they'd have to share a room, and he wasn't entirely certain such a thing had occurred to her on its own. Which, it now appeared that it hadn't, but they could talk about it later, once they were in their room and had made sure it was not being monitored.

It didn't take a second for Lucy to realize she should have thought of the fact they'd be in very close quarters here, but there was no help for it, and she knew that. (Not that she would be averse to such a thing under other circumstances, if she were telling the truth.) But these weren't other circumstances, so she simply continued to go along with the ploy. The warmth of his fingers in hers, though, was a tad overwhelming to the young woman, and-

That same strange feeling prickled over her again, and she shivered, though she managed to keep her face straight. But she was sure Loke had noticed something was wrong by now, and knew she'd be getting interrogated the moment it was safe.

"The lady looks tired," the clerk said with professional courtesy and a sympathetic smile as she took care of the registration. "How long will you be staying?"

Shrugging, Loke glanced down easily at the woman on his arm, who looked up at him in question. Their eyes held a moment and then he turned and said, "My princess is fairly worn out – we _have_ been traveling a great deal lately. I suppose four days won't be a stretch. She can rest up, and then we can see how she's feeling before deciding further."

The clerk simply nodded and took the information and his payment, then handed him a key. "I hope you enjoy your stay in Garnet, then. Your room is on the second floor at the north end of the hall, you can take that staircase there and it will lead you right to it. There's only one other guest on that end, so it should be fairly quiet for your lady."

Loke thanked the woman and turned, immediately leading Lucy towards the indicated stairs. _Well, so far, so good... I think._

Now all they had to do was get themselves settled, find Makarov's contact – and get something to eat.

~~LoLu~~

Neither had said a word as they'd located their room and then slipped inside, Loke shutting the door quietly but firmly, and locking it. Then he turned and slid something out of his pocket.

He and Lucy both looked at it, and Loke shook his head with a small smile. It was an odd little device that Levy had pressed on them as they were preparing to leave the guild – something she'd cooked up that would keep anyone from using magic to spy on them when they were wherever it had been set up, while feeding any possible listeners the magical equivalent of background noise. He set it down on the little table by the bed, and then surged just a faint bit of his power into it as the clever little script mage had explained, and voila – they could now speak freely.

The blonde let out a whooshing breath and sighed in relief. Clearly, the need to watch everything she said or did was weighing on her, but Loke couldn't blame her, because he was truthfully just as tense.

"What had you twitching so much on the way up here?"

Lucy blinked, then pouted, a cute frown furrowing her brow. "I don't know," she replied, sitting down on the end of the bed and looking toward the window. "It's so vague I can't make heads nor tails of it. I just... every so often, I get a very tiny prod to my memory – like there's something familiar somewhere here. Something I've felt or sensed before. But it's not a strong sense... it's like something that I noticed once in passing," she scowled and then closed her eyes and rubbed at her brow in frustration. "Anyway, I don't know how else to say it. But I'm definitely paying attention, so if I figure it out I'll let you know."

Leaning against a wall with his hands casually in his pockets, he looked thoughtful. He hadn't really noticed anything that he could say was familiar, so all he could do was let her think about it and keep his own senses on alert. (Which he was doing anyway.) "Familiar," he parroted, looking at the floor absently as he thought out loud. "Well, besides the feeling of being in danger, which anyone from Fairy Tail should be familiar with-" he chuckled mordantly, "-I can't say I've noticed anything specific or that I've sensed anywhere else. Although... it's almost like this place is a living entity itself... like the very landscape and everything in it is watching us. It's outrageously intense."

"At least for anyone with any magic," Lucy agreed. Loke wasn't exaggerating, she decided, because yes, that was a very good description for how this place felt.

"Well-" he pulled one hand from his pocket and glanced down at the number on the key, "-I'm imagining that the 'only other guest' on this side is our man. The room number Makarov gave us should be down this hall just a little further. What do you want to do? It's getting late and we need to get something to eat, but we also need to make contact as soon as possible. We can eat first and then track our guy down, or get to business first and wait to eat until later. Up to you, Princess."

"I'm not really hungry-" she blushed and he grinned as her stomach chose that moment to show its displeasure quite loudly, and her lower lip poked out as she stared at him reproachfully. "... Jerk," she muttered under her breath. "Fine, I'm hungry, but I can wait. We'd better get on with business first. Then we can get something, come back here, and discuss what we're going to do next while we eat."

Loke shook his head, still grinning, and straightened. "Then let's go," he chuckled. "Wouldn't want to make your stomach wait too long – it almost sounded like a roaring lion on the hunt for a meal. I'm not looking to be on the menu." Then he seemed to rethink that statement and leered at her. "Well, unless-"

He was stopped by a hand in the face as Lucy brushed past him towards the door with a dour look. "Can it, pervert. This isn't the time for your infernal flirting."

"But-"

She shot him a threatening glare, and he put up his hands in surrender and gave with a laugh.

"Alright, alright, I got it. I'll save the flirting for later."

"Hmph." She flounced out the door with her nose in the air, though with a tiny smile he didn't miss, and Loke chuckled to himself. All he'd really been trying to do was lighten her mood, and he'd succeeded so he let the matter go, closing the door to their room behind him and pocketing the key.

The two ambled seemingly aimlessly down the hall despite the fact that no one else was visible anywhere, and the silence was almost too deep. Both kept a discreet eye on the room numbers, but as they reached the right length of hall for the number Makarov had given them, a door a few feet away suddenly flew open, and a large, hulking shadow appeared.

"Hurry and come in," it said in a surprisingly soft but gruff voice, "before someone jus' so happens ta come along an' see somethin' they really don' need ta."

Both Loke and Lucy came to startled halts with their defenses up at the opening door and the voice coming out of the blue. They glanced at each other and then back at the doorway a little suspiciously. Sure, they were near the room number they needed and they knew there was only one guest down this hall, but there was no guaranteeing this man was who he appeared to be.

"How do you-"

"I'm sens'tive," the voice said, becoming a little snappy. "I can feel traces of Master M's magic on ya. Now get in 'ere," he said insistently, finally sticking a large, bearded head out the door to look down the corridor. Then he reached out and grabbed the couple and drew them swiftly into the room, shutting the door firmly behind them all with a sigh.

After a moment the man turned and shook his head at them. "Sorry. Know you're prolly suspicious an' all, but we really need ta be damn careful 'ere." He ran a hand through disheveled, shaggy brown hair, then turned and made his way further into the room towards a table. "Name's Gaults. I s'pose you're Loke and Lucy, least, them's the names Makarov gave me. Come take a seat and let's get down ta cases, why don' we?"

"Uh, well, okay," Lucy finally sputtered out after exchanging a rather incredulous glance with her lion, who had on the same disconcerted expression she was sure she did. "Yeah, Lucy and Loke. Nice to meet you... I think..."

Loke just shook his head after he'd regathered his senses and led his mistress to the table, where Gaults was now taking a seat in a seemingly flimsy chair that protested his bulk. Big, it wasn't a matter of fat, but sheer bulky muscle. The man really kind of looked like a bear, if truth were to be told. In fact, he rather reminded Loke of Ursa Major, the celestial bear.

The 'bear' gave a long exhale and though his body position didn't change, it almost seemed as if he'd slumped. Now that Loke's eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, he could see that the man looked tired, as if he'd been under a lot of strain lately. With where they were and what they were doing, that wasn't too surprising. What _was_ surprising was that, despite that weary air, the man looked perfectly capable of swiping a person's head right off their shoulders and fighting his way out of a bad situation with only the strength in his meaty arms. He was just dangerous, tired or not. In fact, that might even make him more dangerous.

"So, anyway," Gaults said, looking at Lucy from beneath shaggy, beetling brows, "you're the one as they used Marionette on, so's you know wha' we're up against. Heard tell you ain't 'xactly human anymore, partly 'cause a' this mess."

Loke started to frown, becoming worried that Lucy would take the blunt reminder too hard, but was taken aback when she looked fierce and angry, instead. She just nodded once, sharply, and the other man shook his head.

"Well, then you're goin' ta be happy ta get your hands on the one's as responsible for that. Guy by the name 'a Varrick Vashton – least, tha's wha' he's callin' hisself." Gaults shrugged. "Migh' be his real 'un, migh' not. My guess is not. But anyways, from wha' we've been able ta dig up, he showed up here in Garnet 'bout fifteen years ago. Bough' a place out a' town a ways, big spread, and jus' called it The Ranch. Then he quietly began bringin' in others a year 'r so later, one or two at a time so's no one would be suspicious, I reckon."

Leaning back in his seat, Loke ran an absent finger around the part of the table in front of him. "And there was never any trouble with any of them? They were just all perfect residents all this time?"

"Seems so," the big man shrugged again, then folded his arms over his chest, making himself look even bigger. "Tha residents here don' have anythin' odd ta say about them, anyway. How them people got ahold of anyone ta practice their evil magic on beats me, though, 'cause there ain't any tell of disappearances 'round here, neither. I guess they coulda jus' gone ta other places and nabbed victims," he squinted thoughtfully, "but otherwise, tha's a mystery."

"So what about the mage we had the run-in with... Delenn?" Lucy asked. "Where does he fit in?"

"Ah, that 'un," Gaults grunted. "Guess he had a fallin' out with Varrick an' jus' up an' left one day. Nothin' more ta say, really. Folks here don' seem ta know nothin' 'bout what goes on ou' there on The Ranch, so they couldn't really give any details. An' we got ta be careful, anyway, an' not be askin' all these nosy questions, ya see? It ain't easy gettin' info on locals while not seemin' ta be fishin' for details on things as ya shouldn' really be concerned with anyways."

Lucy blinked a little bemusedly, almost wanting to fall asleep at the way of speaking this strange man had. But while his words themselves might seem simple, it was clear he was anything but. And she had the odd little suspicion that he might be exaggerating his oddly-lyrical speech just a bit. If you're wanting _not_ to rouse suspicion, seeming to be on the slightly dim side would definitely quell that.

"So in other words, the background history is on the vague and shaky side," she nodded to herself. "That's disappointing, but I suppose we don't need to know all the details to put an end to what they're doing."

"Tha's about righ', 'lil lady. Although somethin' odd did come out, which I wouldn' prolly mention 'cept as you're spirits. From wha' we could gather, the ones as leave The Ranch an' travel aroun' for a while an' then come back, well, they've been a'collectin' all the celestial keys they can find. They bring 'em back here an' give 'em to Varrick, an' then they get locked away somewheres, an' tha's that."

"What?" Lucy blurted, eyes wide, as Loke sat up straight in equal surprise at that _very_ unexpected piece of information.

"Got any reason why, at all?" the lion queried sharply, his brows furrowed.

Their reactions were met with a rusty chuckle. "Nope, no' a one."

"Well, damn," he replied as he sat back again and stared at the tabletop with a frown. "I can't see how it could possibly play into all this, but I guess there isn't anything we can do about it for right now. Once we get this Varrick guy, we can look into that side of things, but for now I guess we'll just have to put it aside." He glanced at Lucy to see her reaction.

She nodded after a moment more. "Yeah," she blew out a reluctant breath, ruffling her bangs, "I don't like it, but without any further info there isn't much we can do about it right now."

Gaults nodded, glancing between the two approvingly. Then he unfolded his arms and leaned forward. "If tha's tha' case, then let's ge' talkin' 'bout wha' you really need ta know. Got any questions?"

"I'd like numbers, types of mages, and how many can actually use Marionette. Where exactly The Ranch is, how many buildings there are and how they're laid out, you know, things like that. Give us everything you've got," Loke replied instantly.

His demands were met with a laugh. "Don' ask much, do ya? Well, don' worry, then. I can give ya wha' you're wantin' ta know. Le's start with numbers, shall we?"

Lucy nodded and took out a notepad from her bag, flipping it open and then withdrawing a magic pen from her little purse, as well. "Alright, I'm ready," she stated firmly, holding the pen up in preparation to jot down everything they were told. Both men chuckled a little at her serious, determined expression.

"Here we go, then, lil' lady," the burly man sent back in a business-like manner. "First..."

~~LoLu~~

An hour or so later, thoroughly briefed, the two left Gault's room on the sly and headed back to their own. Loke unlocked the door, but then caught Lucy's arm as she went to step inside. "Hey, um, why don't you go in and relax. I'll go get us something to eat, and then we can talk about things when I get back. Anything in particular you'd like?"

The blonde paused and thought about it, but then shook her head and said in a low tone, "It'd be safer to stick together. What if something happened while you were gone? If we _are_ being watched, we don't want to give anyone a chance to separate us."

Loke had to reluctantly agree with that; while he wished she would stay behind and try to rest, he wouldn't have allowed _her_ to go off on her own, so he couldn't really say anything against her concern. With a sigh he pulled the door shut again and led her on down the corridor, back towards the stairs. "Well, in that case, look more tired," he told her. "You had that look earlier when we checked in and that's the excuse we used for being here, so we don't want to change that perception now."

 _Look more tired? You mean, I don't already look dead on my feet? _she wondered. _I certainly feel like it._ But she simply agreed quietly and allowed her shoulders to slump a little and her eyes to droop. It wasn't a difficult switch, she'd actually been having to struggle to look on her toes and professional in front of Gaults, because she really was tired, and not just inwardly, now.

She was also beginning to feel the mortal realm eating at her energy more than it had to begin with, and that was adding to the effect. She strongly suspected that if it weren't for the fact that she'd been human all her life until recently and her body remembered that, she'd be feeling the loss more. She shuddered inwardly; she couldn't even imagine now how Loke had survived _three years_ of this world eating away at his life force. It was such a lucky chance that he had, and then that she'd arrived just in time to save him from the consequences of faulty celestial laws and the results of Karen's cruelty.

 _I would never have gotten to know such an amazing person,_ she took in fully for the first time. It was a frightening realization. It would have been a devastating loss, in her opinion, not just for her, but for everyone. Loke really was an amazing man, there were no other words for it.

She exhaled slowly and deeply as he led her out of the inn after inquiring into acceptable dining facilities at the desk. "Tired enough looking, for you?" she chuckled under her breath as they walked down the street. "Geez, when did this day even start, anyway? I can't remember – it feels like maybe a lifetime ago, honestly."

Loke just shot her a "Really?" sort of expression over his shoulder, his eyes twinkling wryly at her sarcasm, but all he said was, "It _does_ kind of feel that way, doesn't it?" in agreement, because it certainly did seem as though this morning was a lifetime ago. In some ways, it had been.

Maybe more than one.

~~LoLu~~

A/N: To the reviewers on both sites, thank you for your continuing support for this story and kind words! I hope I can continue to deliver a satisfying tale to my readers.

Dozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu,

(Please regard me kindly)

Amber


	16. Chapter 16

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 16**

~~LoLu~~

The hour before dawn found Loke awake and laying with his arms folded under his head on his side of the full bed. He'd only slept for a few hours, his mind taken up with their situation, but for him it was more than enough for the time being. For spirits, sleeping here on Earthland was like taking a nap, because of the time differences between the realms. He could rest more fully when this was all over and they went home.

Lucy was still asleep, but honestly, he wasn't so surprised by that. In fact, he'd have been more surprised if she hadn't been, with as much as had happened to her in the last few months. He turned his head and looked at his mistress, running his eyes over her currently calm, shadowed features. They softened with fondness after a moment, and he moved one arm and brushed the back of his hand over her cheek, his touch almost lighter than air. He didn't want to wake her, not just yet. There was a little more time left for her to rest, and he wanted her to have all of it that she could.

Her face twitched for a second at that tiny touch, and his eyes and heart softened even more as she leaned into the barely-there caress unconsciously. But when she breathed his name nearly completely silently as she did so, hope surged dangerously inside him. It seemed that in her most vulnerable state, with her defenses down and her mind asleep, she responded with perfect trust to him, seeking his affection and protection. That was a very good – and rather telling – sign, and Loke felt a lot more confident in that moment that, if she didn't already, she would come to love him in time.

Wishing that he could wrap her up in his arms and cuddle her while she slept, he exhaled silently, admonishing himself to be patient. Slow and steady would win the race and he knew that, but it was damned hard. Finally, though, he reluctantly pulled his hand away and started to replace it under his head.

His heart completely stopped and his eyes widened with surprise as Lucy murmured unhappily in her sleep and curled into _him_ instead, following his retreating hand and ending with her head resting on his chest with a contented, happy little smile. _Maybe I'm closer to gaining her heart than I thought,_ he realized with somewhat dazed wonder. _Stars, please, let that be true..._ Carefully, unwilling to wake her too soon and end this amazing contact, he placed his arm around her instead, accepting her into his hold gently and with a soft smile in return of the one still on her lips.

 _Tha-thump._ She snuggled closer to him and then settled with a gentle sigh, and Loke's heart absolutely melted with love for the young woman. It was so strong it brought tears to his eyes, but he just blinked them away and continued to hold her and watch the comfortable expression on her sleep-softened features.

 _I could spend the rest of forever right here and never miss anything else._

Unfortunately, reality would quickly intrude, and he knew it. He managed to pull his eyes from the love of his life and glanced at the window. The shade over it kept him from really seeing anything more than the fact that the light was deepening in slow increments, but soon the outside world would demand their time and attention fully once more.

 _Damn this whole mess, anyway,_ he sighed inwardly, the easy look in his eyes due to his current position hardening again as his mind turned back to the job at hand.

One thing had become clear to him over the last hours. With the silence of their surroundings and lack of current distractions – not counting the sleeping Lucy herself – his senses had gotten a chance to listen more deeply, so to speak, and he understood what she'd been talking about last night when she'd said that something here seemed familiar somehow.

Learning that Vashton and his cohorts had been gathering celestial keys had given him the answer. The blonde had simply been reacting to the very minute amounts of spirit world energy in the area from those keys. He _was_ mildly surprised at just how sensitive to such energy she was turning out to be, because even he hadn't noticed it until the current downtime had allowed his most basic and instinctual senses to filter out all the other, louder distractions around them.

 _She really is an amazing woman_.

He shook that thought off after a moment and considered Gaults' assertion that he felt their target was using a false identity, and had to wonder. _Was_ the man a known quantity under another name?

 _Hmm..._

Well, if 'Varrick Vashton' _was_ a false ipseity, there could only be one reason in the end – he didn't want anyone to connect the fake and the real.

It didn't matter, though, he decided after a few minutes. Whoever the man was he had to be stopped, no equivocation, so the question of his true name could be set aside in favor of concentrating on the ultimate goal.

Mind once more running through all the information Gaults had given them, Loke frowned. They were really going to be in the deep end once they moved on Vashton's compound out in the boonies. It was a large spread from what they'd been told, and there were at least twenty-one mages there at any given time. All of them were in various stages of learning Marionette, Varrick himself and five or six others being proficient or better with the dark magic.

With he and Lucy, and her other zodiac keys, that didn't sound like bad odds – only five or six mages that could use the human manipulation/possession magic well, and which didn't work on them anyway, _but._..

The real danger here for them was any _other_ magic that the wizards were capable of using. Varrick himself, it seemed, was quite skilled in... persuasion. It seemed that his voice was almost hypnotic; he was able to manipulate people simply by speaking. They just obeyed him when he gave orders, as though he were a king and they had no choice.

 _That_ thought rang a bell in his mind, but he couldn't place exactly why.

Before he could delve more deeply into the reasons for that, however, Lucy shifted slightly and sighed in her sleep, and his attention was immediately diverted right back to her. He held his breath for a few moments, wondering if she'd wake now or not, but he knew if she didn't, it would most likely only be a few more minutes before she did. Either that, or he'd have to do it himself as time counted down to the rising of the sun and the start of the new day.

Her eyes didn't open quite yet, though, and he set aside the looming morning in favor of watching his armful of warm and soft woman for the little amount of time he had left.

He was glad to note that the shadows that had lain beneath her eyes yesterday were almost gone. She looked a lot better, honestly, not quite so fragile as she had. Their quick return to the spirit world before laying down last night hadn't hurt, either, allowing her energy to begin recovering a bit faster. Her face scrunched and her nose wrinkled briefly as he watched, and alone in the room with no other eyes on them, he let a rather besotted smile flitter across his face. She was just too cute.

 _I love you, Lucy... I really do. I hope you never change. I wasn't kidding yesterday when I told you that your attempts to improve on perfection were wasted effort._

Of course he knew she wasn't perfect; neither was he. But she was perfect to _him_ , and in the end that was all that counted. He adored her just as she was, and he always would.

That was why he would be completely ruthless in protecting her. Anyone that showed themselves as a danger to her would be taken down, no questions asked – just like Delenn. _She_ was what was most important to him, their contract notwithstanding. It really never had been about that for him... not from the moment she'd saved him and Seirei-o had bound them together as mistress and spirit.

It was now, and always had been, about love.

Stronger movement from the woman curled against him and a deep sigh pulled his eyes to hers. They were just opening, and he watched with fascination as the sleepy haze in them slowly leached away – and then she realized where she was, and with who, and a fierce blush crawled across her cheeks.

She immediately began untangling them. "Don't get any ideas," she mumbled gruffly, refusing to meet his now-amused gaze as she crawled out of the bed. "I've always gone for the warm spot, and you're very warm, that's all."

He chuckled knowingly. "Mmhmm... whatever you say, beautiful."

Her grumpy scoff was met with a broad grin as he sat up on the bed, and after a few seconds she gave up and trudged off in the direction of the small bathroom. "Jerk," she grumbled.

When she emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes or so later, Loke had changed out of the boxers and t-shirt he'd napped in and was in a collared shirt, heavy denims, and boots, looking crisp and ready for action. He was leaning against the small table drinking a cup of coffee, and smiled when she sniffed the welcoming aroma of roasted arabica beans with a hopeful expression. She scurried over and he handed her a second cup before she could even ask.

"You look much better," he commented after she'd taken a relishing sip.

She flicked a somewhat guarded glance at him, but when she was met with an uncomplicated smile she unbent and nodded, finally letting a return smile brighten her features. "Yeah," she said softly after another drink, "thanks. I do feel better – less tired and not stretched quite so thin. I'm ready for what's coming."

"Glad to hear it."

"So... have you decided what we should do first?"

A mischievous brow rising into his bangs, Loke allowed his eyes to flicker rapidly over her, and he winked. "Well, I don't know about you, precious, but personally I think you should probably find something to wear _other_ than that rather charming towel you've got on before you think about anything else."

Suddenly realizing that she hadn't gotten dressed yet, she turned a deep red and shrieked in dismay, dropping her coffee on the table and zipping back in the direction of the bathroom to the tune of the lion's deep laughter.

"Dammit, you pervert!" she yelled.

"But my love," he protested with a wide grin, "I'm not the one that came out here in nothing but a very skimpy towel! How is this _my_ fault?"

She came back into view a few moments later, now dressed in a cute but serviceable outfit of jeans and a cropped top, hiking boots covering her dainty feet and her whip and keys attached to her belt. She looked capable and ready for action – and the fierce glare on her face directed at him only added to the image. "One of these days, Loke," she growled as she stomped over and snatched her coffee back off the table. "I swear – one of these days I'm going to knock that smarmy grin right off your face."

" _Smarmy_?" he objected laughingly.

Her flat stare made his eyes twinkle gleefully.

"So, _anyway_ ," she began, loftily changing the subject, "you never did say what you think our first order of _business_ should be."

That sobered him, and Loke's expression immediately went serious. "We should make contact first with Gaults' main field agent – what did he say his name was – Leffler?" Lucy nodded, and he continued. "He's the man on the ground, so he'll have any updates or new information, and we need to be as current as possible on what things look like out there."

"Makes sense," she considered, looking thoughtful. "But I'm kind of concerned... once we go after Vashton and his men, it's going to get even more dangerous for the agents. You know the old saying about rats deserting a sinking ship, and if it looks like the tides are turning in our favor, those mages surrounding Varrick might try to run. If Leffler and his other men happen to bump into any of the 'rats', there's going to be trouble. We should have them all come back to town once we head in."

"You're right," the lion agreed, absently swirling the little coffee left in his cup around and staring down at it as he pondered on the ins and outs of the situation. "Well, they might not like it, but when it comes down to it we're the ones in charge of this operation. Until Vashton and his cohorts are subdued so they can be turned over, we're running the show. But we probably should clear it with Gaults before we head out. It'll just make things easier when dealing with the agents – that way if they try to put up a fuss, we've already got their boss in our pocket, so they'll have no choice."

The blonde shrugged and took another sip of her drink. "I suppose."

"Then let's get going. I want to get this over with as soon as possible so we can take care of more important things – like getting you settled."

Without another word Lucy's form shimmered brightly blue-white before the energy ripped away, revealing her now wearing a thin denim half-jacket over her cropped top, her hair braided and looped up in a functional bun so as to be out of the way. She looked herself over with a satisfied air, and then grinned a little wryly. _I should have remembered I could do this now before coming out of the bathroom._

"Silver linings..." When Loke looked a little confused at that, her small grin widened into a true - if somewhat sad - smile. "Everything that's happened to me since that train robbery... sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. Becoming a celestial spirit and losing my humanity has been hard, but I have to say, I _really_ love the ease of changing clothes and getting ready. Silver linings... see? I always, you know, try to find them no matter what happens. It makes bad or stressful things more bearable."

He held her gaze for several long moments, searching her eyes, and then smiled in return and straightened up. He ran the tip of one finger down her chin, causing her to flush just a little. "You really are something else again, Lucy Heartfilia. Every time I think you couldn't surprise me any more, you pop out with something like that and leave me even more awed at the depths of your strength. Don't ever let anyone tell you you're weak, love, because you're the strongest person I've ever met. And I've met a _lot_ of people in my lifetime. You're amazing."

Surprised and embarrassed at his words and the warmth he'd spoken with, the young woman's flush deepened and her eyes dropped away bashfully. But before she could begin to deny what he'd said he continued speaking, easing her past the rather intense moment and back to the task at hand.

"I'm bringing Levy's little device with us – I don't want anyone getting in here and finding it, and it might just come in useful out there," he went on, striding over to the bedside table and picking the tiny thing up. He tossed it up into the air and then caught it and slipped it into his pocket, then turned towards the door and gestured her towards it. "Let's get a move on, then, if you're ready."

The still slightly blushing blonde nodded and preceded her lion out the door without another word.

~~LoLu~~

It was a two-hour stretch out to Varrick's compound from the inn, made longer for the fact that they had to go overland.

Walking right up the road and knocking on the door really wasn't a viable option – unfortunately, in Lucy's opinion.

With everything that had happened to her lately, however, she had plenty to occupy her mind during the hike, though the only thing it seemed to want to linger on was Loke. She sighed inwardly. Of course. He was always in her thoughts, especially lately, and events like the ones she'd woken to this morning only encouraged that.

She flicked a rapid glance at him as he walked quietly by her side, then pouted and jerked her eyes away before he noticed.

 _He's too charming for anyone's good. But he's also so many other things – if all he could lay claim to was a facile allure, I'd be able to brush him off, no skin off my nose._

However, that most definitely wasn't all he could lay claim to. He was a very charismatic man, flamboyant and over-the-top sometimes, and yet when it came down to it his soul was there to be seen by any who chose to take a second look. He was one of the most genuine people she'd ever met just underneath that showy exterior. He felt things so _deeply;_ the situation with Aries had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. And he was so very vividly _alive_. How could she not fall in love with him?

The problem was – or it had been – that she'd seen him as a bad idea for romance because of his playboy persona. She wanted to be the only, not one of many. And for a time, her obstinate belief in his serial womanizing had been sufficient to keep her feelings for him at bay. But not anymore.

When was the last time she'd seen him hitting on or flirting with a woman? She couldn't remember. Well, okay, he _had_ been kind of flirty with Yukino, but even she had been able to tell – through her jealousy – that he hadn't been _serious_. And that was really the last time. He seemed to restrict all his flirting to her now.

 _Maybe... well, maybe. _She abruptly recalled what had happened after they'd left Makarov's office yesterday – before that kiss. The way he'd looked at her had seized her attention then, and the further memory of what she'd felt from him during her Joining only added to what she was beginning to suspect just _might_ be true. _Oh, stars I hope..._ Well, she couldn't deny it. She hoped that Loke was at least beginning to return her feelings.

Sure, she knew he cared for her. But she didn't just want him to love her like he did his other friends. She wanted to be closer. A _lot_ closer. And even though she'd never even considered the possibility before, not once ever thinking she had a real chance with him, now that the thought was there, she couldn't rid herself of the hope it generated.

And that wasn't even considering that kiss. Her insides clenched with heat at the memory of how it had felt. It had been amazing, there was no denying that, and she was pretty sure that despite his playboy ways, he'd never just done something like that to another woman. That kiss hadn't been about a little bit of fun – or even a lot - and flirty or not, turning and casually kissing some girl like that wasn't something even he would do. No... there had been a great deal of emotion in that contact.

Now she just had to figure out how deep that emotion went for him. _Could_ it be as deep as her feelings?

Well, the only thing she could do was watch him. She'd be paying very close attention from now on to exactly how he reacted to her, the things he said, the things he did. Was he truly simply flirting with her, or _was_ it more? And she'd definitely be paying attention to how he acted with other women, as well. That was a very important point for her, because she really wouldn't accept being one of many. She'd be the only, or she wouldn't step in the ring in the first place, simple as that.

Decision now firmly made, she actually felt easier inside, not so guarded in his presence anymore. It was time to open up a little to him, give him a chance to prove whether his interest was real or not. If it was... well-

A jangling sensation of warning echoed across the landscape of her mind, ripping her from her thoughts. Lucy immediately came to a halt, reaching out and grabbing Loke's arm to stop him. He instantly went on the alert as she let go again, his guard up, and she scanned the area, knowing that they were no longer alone. Someone or something was close.

"I am gratified to see that you are paying attention," a voice came literally out of nowhere, and then a gray, smoke-like substance began to whirl in the air a few feet off to the side. Just as their eyes locked onto the odd effect, it snapped suddenly into focus.

It was a man. Slim, clean-shaven, and neatly dressed, with silver hair cropped close to his head and glasses framing his almost eerily blue eyes, the young man primly pushed them back up the bridge of his nose with one well-bred finger and looked them both over, just as they were doing to him.

"I should rephrase. I am gratified to find that _you_ , at least, ma'am, are paying attention," he qualified, his expression stiffly disapproving when it landed on Loke.

The lion's eyes narrowed at the dig. "Leffler, I presume?" he asked with just a touch of aggression, after looking around and taking in their position.

"That is correct," the agent replied with a small, rather ironic bow. Then he looked at Lucy again, and his manner became a little friendlier – to Loke's instant dislike. He scowled faintly.

"And you would be Lady Lucy Heartfilia," the young man continued with a small smile at the blonde, who was blinking rapidly in some surprise.

 _Um..._ She had the rather insane urge to giggle. This man was all that was proper, from his speech to his clothing and manner. And he worked for _Gaults,_ that giant, shaggy bear of a man? The urge to laugh got stronger, and she barely held it off. " _You're_ Leffler?" she blurted, before slapping a hand over her mouth to stop anything else from coming out without her prior approval. _I wonder how they get along...?_

The young man tilted his head and studied her with a slightly confused expression on his even, rather handsome features. "Yes. Is there a problem with that?"

"She probably didn't expect someone like _you_ after meeting Gaults, pretty boy," another voice drawled, a female one this time. "You should be used to that reaction by now."

Both Loke and Lucy's eyes snapped around as one and they watched silently as a woman formed out of what looked like dark purple flames. As the shadowed light from it faded, the speaker was fully revealed, and the two nearly gaped.

The woman was almost extravagantly beautiful, waist-length, almost twilight-colored hair curling down her back, with black eyes that weren't in the least flat as one would think from the color blinking languidly at them. Her skin was pale and perfect, and her body long and slender.

Lucy instantly felt like a dowd next to her, and decided she wasn't going to like the woman at all – _especially_ as she was looking her lion over quite openly and lasciviously, while actively ignoring her.

Apparently, there was no love lost between Leffler and the woman, either, whoever she was. He was frowning at her, his dislike apparent in his eyes. "Let us keep this professional, Seravien. This is no time for your little games," he chastised disapprovingly with a small sniff.

She merely shot him an amused smirk, then looked back at a still very startled spirit with an inviting wink. "I'm always professional, Leffler. I never let business interfere with pleasure, you should know that by now," she dismissed with a sultry chuckle, before addressing Loke. "So, handsome, you must be Leo. I'm Shona – Shona Seravien."

 _Well, I was just thinking about watching how he reacts to other women, and I guess now's my chance, _Lucy thought to herself a bit sourly. She really, really hoped she wasn't about to lose out to the gorgeous woman in front of her, but if he went for it, then at least she'd have her answer.

 _Dammit, why am I always surrounded by women that are more beautiful than me? I just can't win!_

The lion cleared his throat and opened his mouth, and the blonde tensed, breathlessly waiting for whatever was going to come out of it...

~~LoLu~~

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I'm pretty pleased with it, though no doubt (as always happens, dammit) as soon as I post it I'll start seeing mistakes, things I missed. You know, duplicate words, missing words, something I misused, really stupid grammar or tense mistakes. It _irks_ me – I feel like I should be able to write something without mistakes, though truthfully I know that no writer is perfect and even published authors have a lot of help getting their story ready for publication. That's what proofreaders and editors are for, and I don't work with anyone on my stuff, it's all done by me. Still, even knowing that doesn't stop the irritation, lol. But all that to say that I hope any mistakes weren't too jarring or obvious, and that I managed to maintain a good flow. (And also that everyone enjoys the first part of the chapter especially, all that Loke/Lucy interaction...)

Amber


	17. Chapter 17

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 17**

~~LoLu~~

"Shona," Loke acknowledged, with a level of reserve that truthfully surprised Lucy.

She _was_ tentatively encouraged by it, however, she couldn't deny that. _I'll simply stay quiet and let him handle this... and watch just how he does it._

Unaware of how closely he was being scrutinized, the lion stared at the beautiful woman that had been revealed as one of Gaults' agents - and there was no denying she was absolutely gorgeous - his eyes narrowing just the tiniest bit. He didn't like the fact that she'd dismissed his mistress as though she were completely unimportant - it always offended him when someone did that. And with her overt sensuality and pushy, superior manner she reminded him of Karen – which was a _definite_ turn-off.

That wasn't even mentioning that he was no longer in the market for any other woman besides his princess, anyway. She was what he wanted, and like a hunting lion fixed on his prey, he had no need nor room for distractions like Shona Seravien anymore.

So he gave a polite, rather aloof smile and continued, "It's nice to meet you." Then he turned deliberately to Leffler, who was watching his team member cynically, and spoke. "We've seen your boss, and gotten all the information he had. Do you have anything to update what he told us?"

Both agents stared at him in surprise, his standoffish manner with the woman clearly not expected by either. Leffler recovered first, looking on him with a tad more approval than he had to begin with, but Shona just looked more determined once she'd regained her equilibrium.

"So you're going to play hard to get, hm?" she laughed knowingly. "I'm not worried. Sooner or later you'll give, handsome. They always do. Well, almost," the woman admitted huskily, then rolled her eyes. "Not counting Leffler here, but I'm beginning to think he's just asexual."

"I simply have no attraction to overly used goods," the silver-haired mage sniffed immediately, then glanced at a so-far silent Lucy before returning his gaze to Shona, whose eyes were now spitting poison at him. "I much prefer someone with class, like Lady Heartfilia. Someone like _you_ has nothing that I want."

Lucy blushed and peeked between the two uncertainly, while Loke's eyes narrowed even further, his stance tensing. While he definitely agreed with the agent, that the blonde's charms were much more attractive to anyone with any intelligence than the black-eyed woman's, it was rather obvious the man standing before them was quite drawn to his mistress, and he didn't like that at all.

But after a few seconds he relaxed and grinned inwardly with a smug sense of satisfaction as he realized that it wasn't likely the guy would get anywhere serious with the young woman that owned him, heart and soul. She was no longer human, and didn't live in this world anymore. It would be kind of hard to have a relationship with someone that lived on a separate plane of existence, where time moved much slower. They didn't even have any bonds such as he and Lucy had, as spirit and mistress – bonds that were now even tighter than they had been before. Leffler would be dead and gone within a year for them, while he and the blonde would live forever.

So he casually cut across the imminent argument between the man and Shona, prompting Leffler to answer his previous question. After one final, frosty glare at his partner, he stiffly returned his attention to the matter at hand.

"No. Everything is the same as what it was when we last reported to Gaults, which was yesterday morning."

"Then if that's the case, all agents - including you two - are to return to Garnet. Lucy and I will be taking it from here, and you'll only be in the way if you stick around."

Both Leffler and Shona frowned at that command.

"And what gives you the authority to give _us_ orders?" the silver-haired man questioned tensely. "We don't work for you."

"The fact that we were called in because humans couldn't take care of the problem," Loke answered evenly. "There's no doubt that once we get inside and things start to unravel for Vashton and his cohorts, some of them are going to run. If they find any of you, you'll be facing off against people using a magic you can't fight. That's the exact reason we were asked to take this job, since Marionette can't harm us as seirei."

Leffler frowned at that, but was unable to deny it. "What did Gaults have to say about this, or did you even consult him?"

Finally Lucy, who hadn't spoken for several minutes while she watched Loke's reactions to Shona covertly, broke in. "We talked to him before heading here, and he agreed. We don't want any of you getting caught by something so dangerous." She looked away for a moment, her eyes troubled as she thought about what she'd been told of her own brush with that foul magic, and everything this whole situation had cost her. "Believe me, you don't want that, either."

At her strained statement the male agent looked sympathetic, although little Miss Seravien didn't even glance at Lucy, let alone with any understanding of what she'd been through, Loke noted cynically. She quite obviously cared for little but herself and her own wants – again, just like Karen. His burgeoning dislike flared higher even as she eyed him up like some kind of meal.

"We were briefed by Gaults on the basics of what happened to you," Leffler told Lucy solemnly. "I commiserate with you on the difficulties of the situation you have found yourself in because of what you were subjected to."

"Umm, thanks," the blonde replied, beginning to look a little shaky at the direction the discussion was taking. She just wasn't ready to pull the whole thing out at once and really _look_ at it. It was still too soon.

That expression on her pretty face caused the lion to interrupt what there was of the conversation between the two. He didn't want her upset all over again, or thinking too much on said 'situation' at all, let alone at this particular time. She didn't need the pain, or the distraction from their mission it would cause.

"If that's all, you two should be heading out. Don't forget your other people in the field, either. We don't want anyone around this place when everything starts to go down."

"And what if some of those bastards _do_ run - right towards town?" Shona asked him, far too flirtatiously for his liking – or Lucy's.

He exchanged a glance with his mistress, then replied, "We don't intend to let them get that far," grimly.

"Oh, and just you two are supposed to stop all the mages _and_ Vashton by yourselves?" Leffler asked skeptically. "No offense, Lady Heartfilia," he murmured directly after.

She shook her head and sighed, "It's okay," with somewhat strained patience at the same time Leo growled, "We aren't the only seirei, you know," rather sarcastically.

"Oh?" the man returned coolly as he glanced around with heavy irony. "So where are these other spirits, then?"

Rapidly becoming irritated at his continued questioning of her partner - and his attitude towards him, as well - Lucy spoke up once more. "We'll call on them as needed," she said with an edge to her voice. "Now, if we could get on with it instead of sitting around sniping at each other, I'd be grateful. I just want to get this over with."

Immediately looking contrite, Loke nodded. "Of course, Princess. I'm sorry."

His apology was echoed by Leffler's, but _he_ took it one step further, taking the blonde's hand and bowing over it, then kissing it – to the lion's major displeasure. "It is regrettable that we met under these complicated circumstances, Lady Heartfilia. Perhaps once this is all over we'll meet again."

Looking nothing so much as uncomfortable now, she only murmured, "Perhaps," in response, then gently freed her hand from the man's hold and glanced at Shona for a moment. "It was nice to meet you, Miss Seravien," she added politely - but untruthfully, if she were being strictly honest. She _really_ didn't like the amount of hunger showing in the other woman's eyes as she watched Loke quite openly. It was a good thing they weren't having to actually work with her, or she was sure she'd end up choking on the aggravation the woman's single-minded pursuit of her lion would cause.

"Likewise," the female agent tossed off indifferently and just as falsely, her eyes still pinned to Leo. "And _you_ , handsome... later," she purred seductively.

Lucy had to really _try_ not to scowl at the woman.

At that point, Loke decided to be a little more blunt with the agent, since she didn't seem to want to take the easy let-down. "I doubt we'll meet again after this is over. Lucy and I will be returning to our world, and I don't know when we'll return. But when we do, it'll be to the guild, so there's no reason we would run into each other after that, as you aren't a member of Fairy Tail," he returned distantly and rather coolly.

Shona didn't look at all put out by his continuing brush-offs. She simply favored him with a vixenish smile. "You never know, Leo. I have the feeling we'll be seeing each other again. And when we do, you'll cave. For now though, I'll say my goodbyes."

 _And good riddance, too. Stars, I've never met a more persistent, heavy-handed woman. I'm so glad we won't have to see her again for long,_ he sighed to himself. They _would_ have to turn over Vashton and the other mages to the agents, and she'd definitely be there. But that should be the last time, and with everything that would be going on during the exchange, she shouldn't have time for attempting to seduce him. He hoped. If she caused him to lose any ground with Lucy because she refused to accept that he didn't want her, though, he was going to have a fit with her. She'd end up wishing him to perdition, but he really couldn't care less if he _tried_.

It had been very clear throughout their short encounter that Leffler really didn't care too much for him, but apparently he disliked Shona far more; he couldn't quite hide the spiteful glee in his eyes at Loke's continuing rejection of her despite her refusal to accept it.

"Come along, Seravien," he ordered coolly before she could serve up any other come-ons, despite his amusement at the situation. "I'd like to get back to Garnet as soon as possible so I no longer have to be stuck out here with you."

"Likewise, Leffler," she spat as they vanished from sight, and both Loke and Lucy breathed sighs of relief once they were gone, then grinned at each other ruefully at the combined sound.

"Boy, am I glad _that's_ over," the blonde chuckled, said relief lighting her features. She shook her head. "How does Gaults put up with it?" In reality, she sort of felt for Leffler a little bit – though she'd never admit it aloud – for being stuck with that woman, despite the fact that he'd made her feel uneasy with his compliments to her, and annoyed with his snarky attitude towards Loke. But between the two, she'd much rather deal with him than his partner, that was for sure.

Leo chuckled. "Dunno, but all I can say is I'm glad I'm not him," he returned wryly.

In the end Lucy _was_ glad they'd met the two, though – it had given her a chance to see Loke directly interacting with another woman. And even better, it had been one who had been more than receptive to a dalliance with him, and open with it. His reaction to the outright offer had been all she could have hoped for, his non-interest in the more beautiful woman perfectly clear. That was probably the first time he'd _ever_ turned down such a gorgeous woman, especially so emphatically, and it raised her hopes quite a bit.

Since they had some time to kill before they could head into the pit of vipers awaiting them, she decided to just ask Loke why he'd acted that way towards Shona and see where such a question got her. (It would be a while before all the agents surrounding The Ranch could get clear, and they wanted them good and gone before they and the other spirits moved in on the renegade mages housed there.)

"You didn't have to apologize earlier, you know."

Loke blinked. "What?" he queried blankly.

Lucy giggled at his obvious confusion as she chose a patch of grass to sit down on, and said, "Earlier, when I made the comment about wanting to get on with it, and the sniping at each other thing... I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about those two. I was beginning to get pretty aggravated with it-" she smiled at him and then looked down at the grass with a small blush, "-as well as how he was speaking to you."

The sentiment didn't surprise him too much; after all, way back when this had all begun, she'd gotten quite icy with her lawyer for speaking rudely to him. What _did_ surprise him was the smile, blush, and her manner – which was shy and innocently sweet. She'd dropped her guard, which she'd always had up to some degree or other since they'd met – admittedly, that she'd had it up at all had been his fault, and he knew it. But was she finally ready to give him a chance and let him in? He couldn't help the excitement that surged up at the hopeful thought.

So he smiled softly in return and sat down across from her so he could see her face as they talked. "He was rather irritating, but I could deal with that. What I most disliked was that he was making you uncomfortable. To be honest, if I hadn't been so busy trying to fend Seravien off – and worried that doing so might offend you - I would have punched that guy with just a _tiny_ bit more provocation." That was a rather telling admittance, and he wondered how she would respond.

He wasn't expecting what he did get, that was for sure. Lucy scowled and huffed, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at the grass at her feet. He watched her cautiously, wondering what had made her angry so suddenly. He hoped it wasn't something he'd said, though he couldn't think of anything in his words that would have caused _this_ reaction.

"That woman," Lucy gritted her teeth, even thinking about Shona Seravien raising her ire. "Don't feel bad for wanting to punch Leffler, because I wanted to do the same to his partner," she owned up, then paused and looked up at him speculatively. "But to be honest... I'm surprised you were so cold to her. I mean, I kind of thought you'd like her as soon as we saw her. She's a beautiful woman, and she obviously liked _you_ ," she added a little sourly as she rolled her eyes.

Loke sighed ruefully, hearing the question – and hesitation - in her voice. _Damn me and my womanizing. If I hadn't been such a player when we met, she might have opened up to me a lot sooner. If I could go back in time, I'd Regulus punch_ _myself right in the face._

"I didn't like her the moment she opened her mouth," he finally chose to say. "She reminded me very much of Karen, for one thing, and you know how I feel about _her_. And I don't find women who are _that..._ what's the word I'm looking for here, mmm... _aggressive_ very attractive. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a doormat, but there's just a limit, and she pushed all of them. Mostly, though, I didn't like her for the way she treated you, as though you were completely unimportant. I tend to get very angry when people do that to you. It's insulting." He shook his head. "She may have a beautiful exterior, but the interior _definitely_ doesn't match."

Eyes wide, Lucy stared at the handsome man whose copper locks were being set afire by the warming sunlight. _He was so offended on_ _my_ _behalf?_ She was very surprised by that, so surprised that only one thing popped out of her mouth, despite all the questions piling up in the back of her throat.

"Oh."

Despite himself, Loke started laughing. "Is that all you have to say? Just... _oh_? Dear stars, Lucy, you are amazing. Even under the worst circumstances, you always manage to lighten my mood." He calmed himself, then looked at her and shook his head with a bright smile. "I'll say this, love – you aren't like her at all, you're much more beautiful, and the interior _definitely_ matches the exterior. Why would any man with even an ounce of brains choose her over you?"

The young woman had no idea what to say to that confidence; in the end she blushed fiercely and denied it. "I'm not beautiful," she mumbled under her breath and looked down, wishing she could stop the red in her face from spreading. "I'm pretty enough, I suppose, but definitely not in her league." She wasn't quite sure what to make of his last statement, though, nor his scoff at hers. Did he mean that he'd... _chosen_ her? As a... romantic interest? And that he really and truly thought she was just as beautiful as the other woman?

While her rather flustered (and hopeful) thoughts ran off in that direction, Loke glanced at the position of the sun, and estimated that they had no more than another half hour or so before they needed to make their way onto Vashton's compound. As time ran down to the coming confrontation, he found that he was becoming more and more reluctant to take his mistress into any sort of dangerous situation, her new immortality notwithstanding.

It was a bit silly, and he _knew_ that. It didn't seem to matter, though. He grimaced, frustrated with himself and the entire situation.

"... Loke? Hey, Loke? Are you okay?"

He came back to himself to find a hand being waved in his face and an expression of concern on Lucy's finely-drawn features. How long had he been lost in dark thoughts? It couldn't have been more than a few minutes or so... He shook his head and shot her a belated smile.

"I'm fine, just thinking. Didn't mean to ignore you."

Looking relieved, if still a little concerned, the blonde sat back down and smiled prettily at him in return. "No, it's okay. I was just overreacting, I guess. I'm getting kinda nervous, you know? I feel like I'll be more hindrance than help." She flushed and turned her face away, unable to hold his gaze as she admitted to something she found shameful. "I don't even know what I can do now. I mean, how do I use my power as Eridanus to help you fight? There's been no time to really learn anything about being a celestial spirit, and now we're going into a huge battle, and I'm afraid that I'll fail you."

 _Fail me?_ Loke wondered blankly. _I don't... is she really worried about something like that?_ He shook his head and reached over, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek.

"Lucy, fight the way you always have. Don't think of this as any different than before, because it isn't. And besides... everything Eridanus can do is hard-wired inside you now. Just like earlier, when you realized that you didn't really need our keys anymore, I think you'll find that what you want to know about your powers and skills will come to you as you need it."

 _That's... that's not good enough... how can he be so blasé about basically leaving this all to chance? How can he just... trust me like that?_ The thought of failing everyone, but most especially him, sat like a lead weight beneath her breast, and she shook her head, a troubled look in her eyes as she met his smiling ones. _I wish I could be so sure._

But she didn't want to add to the worry she could see beneath the encouragement, worry that she knew was on her behalf. So she put on a weak smile and nodded at him, though she didn't say anything, not sure she could trust her voice not to wobble. She glanced at the position of the sun to give herself a moment, but dread only curled beneath her heart at what that look told her.

It was pretty much time to get on with things.

It seemed Loke was keeping as close a watch on time; before she could say anything he stood up and held out a hand to help her to her feet. She took it, shivering a little at the soft touch of his flesh against her own.

"Are you ready? It's about time, so you should go ahead and call Virgo so she has the chance to set the trap around the compound."

Lucy nodded but didn't say anything, and the lion smiled at her and sighed. Taking a chance, he tugged on her hand and pulled her into his embrace. He pressed her head to his chest and leaned his chin atop her crown, his feelings for her surging dangerously as she came into his arms unhesitatingly and wrapped her own around his waist. He tightened his hold on her and when she reciprocated again, his smile stretched into a grin, though she couldn't see it. Now he _really_ couldn't wait for this mess to be over, because once it was, they were going to be having a long, _very_ serious discussion about their future.

Their future _together._

"No more doubts, love. It'll all work out, you'll see. I believe in you, and I believe in _us_. We're a great team! Vashton and his buddies won't know what hit them."

Again the blonde nodded without saying anything, her throat too choked up with hope and fear, love and uncertainty to really speak. After one final squeeze Loke released her, and she reluctantly stepped away, a small blush coloring her cheeks at the look he sent her.

"Go on, beautiful," he encouraged softly, and with a deeply drawn breath, and then a heavy release of all the air in her lungs as well as the fear in her heart, she grinned with determination and a raised, clenched fist.

"Well, here we go," she said. "First shot in this battle is about to be fired."

Loke winked at her, just so proud of his mistress that he almost felt as though his chest would burst. _This_ was exactly why he believed in her so deeply. She was unconquerable – she never gave up, never let her doubts keep her down. She had an unbeatable will when it came right down to it; no matter how bad it got, she always fought back.

He watched with admiration as she murmured a few words under her breath and opened the gate between realms, Virgo sparkling into sight with a very small power surge, considering that she was a golden key, and thus usually took more power to summon.

At the virgin constellation's query, Lucy stepped back and motioned to Loke, letting him explain the circumstances and what they needed from her, and just that quick, the maiden began digging a narrow, rather deep trench around the property, covering it over as she went with whatever detritus was available to hide it.

Step one, underway. If any of those mages did try to get away, they wouldn't find it as easy as they would probably be expecting.

Now... on with the rest. The two exchanged solemn glances, then nodded and moved out as one.


	18. Chapter 18

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 18**

~~LoLu~~

There were a few faint calls in the distance, and if Loke didn't know any better he'd think this place was nothing more than what it was posing as – a ranch. From their vantage point just to the left of the main entrance to the property, he could even see a few people out doing chores around the various buildings.

It all seemed so innocent; too innocent, and that made him even more suspicious. Besides, he could feel the keys that Vashton and his cohorts had been collecting just sitting somewhere down there emitting spirit world energy. He glanced at his partner questioningly.

"Can you tell where the keys are?"

Lucy met his gaze for a quick moment and nodded solemnly. "Yeah," she said softly, her eyes going back and tracing the different buildings she could see until she came to the barns. "There," she pointed at one. "They're in there."

He hissed mistrustfully through his teeth. "This is just too easy," he said, noting the simplistic layout and seemingly idyllic nature of the scene before them. "I don't trust it... any of it. Those buildings look normal enough from here, but I'll bet everything I own that at least some of them have more levels beneath the ground. Vashton's been out here for around fifteen years – they've had plenty of time to extend this place in the only way sure to remain invisible to any interested eyes – downward."

"Yeah, and there's no way to tell which ones and how many levels we're talking about, either," the blonde agreed, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. "But at least that barn, where the keys are, does have at least one or two levels below ground, because the spirit energy is emanating up from below." She frowned, and her fingers absently caressed her own keys. "There's quite a few of them down there, too. I mean, between me and Yukino we've got all the golden keys besides Aquarius, but that leaves a hell of a lot of silver keys, and he's stockpiled way too many for comfort. I wonder... are any of those guys celestial mages?"

Loke's gaze was stern as he stared down at the deceptive scene. "I don't know, but there has to be some connection, because I doubt they've been collecting those keys for no reason at all. But I just... I can't see-" he broke off and shook his head in frustration.

"Unless they were simply trying to lock up the only easy way humans would have to defeat Marionette – the seirei."

"No... I don't think that's it, or at least not all of it," he replied after a moment spent thinking it over. "Because if that were the case, it would have been the golden keys he'd have been after. The silvers wouldn't be as much a threat to whatever they're planning as we zodiacs."

"Except that since Yukino and I are the only ones with gold keys after everything that's happened, he might just not have had the chance to come after us for them. I'm guessing that whatever he's after, he wasn't quite ready to move. We wouldn't even be here or know about Marionette if it weren't for Delenn, after all, and like Gaults said, Delenn and Vashton had a falling-out, which is why the other man left. I think he threw a wrench into whatever it is Varrick and his flunkies were planning with what he did."

"Maybe," he conceded after a moment.

"Well," Lucy sighed as she looked over the panorama available from their spot, "at least no one will particularly care if this place gets trashed in the upheaval. I have a bad feeling there's going to be a lot of big magic and explosive encounters down there."

Loke scowled lightly at her words, but unfortunately, he was pretty sure she was right. There was no way this was going to be easy – not with the feel of the power coming from down below.

"Taurus for the distraction factor as we go in?" he asked. "With perhaps Cancer coming from just off to his side?"

The blonde nodded. "I mean, as soon as those two start bellowing and making a mess they're going to know we're coming, but at least they won't know from where, exactly."

"That's sure true," the lion rolled his eyes as he thought of the spirit of the bull especially and his propensity for noise and mayhem. At the very least, he and Cancer would be strong enough opponents to keep some of the renegade mages busy for a bit while he and Lucy went looking for their boss. "We should have them attack from say-" he squinted and then pointed at a spot about two-thirds of the way around the property from where they were, "-there, maybe. It would be a little too obvious if they were exactly opposite us."

"The problem is that we don't know where Varrick is," she breathed after a moment, frustrated. "He could be anywhere down there. And we only have partial stats on those other mages, too. So we aren't sure what all of them are even capable of."

"That can't be helped," Loke replied, his eyes carefully cataloging everything in sight. "It's possible Taurus' and Cancer's noise might draw him out, though I wouldn't count on it. But something about that place is really bothering me," he added, an unsettled expression on his face. When Lucy shot him a _look_ , he sighed heavily. "I _mean_ for more than what we already know. There's something else..."

"There's an awful lot of spirit energy coming from down there, maybe that's it," she said doubtfully, wondering just what it was that Loke was sensing. Was there something that she wasn't noticing? The possibility made her distinctly uneasy. "More than should be, even with the silver keys – and not including Virgo. The closer we get, the more I mistrust this whole thing."

He grimaced, unfortunately agreeing with her. "There is, isn't there? He and his followers must have gathered quite a few of the silver keys. Maybe even all of them. But there's nothing doing just standing here; we'd better get on with it," he finished reluctantly. He really hated having to drag her into danger like this, but there was no other choice, this was something that they had to do.

"So where do we start our search?"

Loke let his eyes wander the buildings laid out before them, then looked back at the barns. Normally he wouldn't even bother with such a place, but with the keys being stockpiled in the one on the right, he doubted very much that it was really used as a _barn_. Not to mention which, it was far too pristine and _quiet_. There was a good chance that was where their man was hiding. He shared his thoughts with his partner.

"What do you think?"

She nodded immediately as she eyed the building in question. "And it's definitely big enough to be used as a training area for the mages, as well," she added, at which observation Loke grunted.

"Alright, I say we make for that building. You agree?"

"Seems as good a starting point as any." Then her brows knitted together and her lips pursed. "You know, it's odd. Yesterday, in Garnet I told you that something felt familiar, and I never was able to figure it out. I don't like it – I'm strangely certain it's important."

"It was the spirit energy from the keys prodding at you... wasn't it?" he asked. "Once everything settled down and I was able to really pay attention, I could faintly feel their energy myself and thought that's what you'd been sensing."

Her frown deepened contemplatively, and she looked troubled. "No. I _feel_ the keys, I don't hear them. And I'm not hearing the same thing out here."

Loke blinked. "Hearing?" he questioned, a little confused. What was she talking about? He hadn't noticed any strange noises in town.

"Well... that's the best word I can come up with," she replied. "It was like something whispering to my subconscious."

"Whispering... what?"

"I don't know... except that it seemed to be repeating itself. Ugh!" she gave an adorable little frustrated pout that made the lion want to kiss her. "There just aren't any words to really describe it."

Brushing aside the affectionate urge for the moment, he stared at the buildings down below blankly for a few quiet breaths before looking back at her. "Unfortunately, we can't do anything about that now," he finally decided. "We're already out here, so the best thing we can do is just go in and get this over with. We can figure Garnet itself out later."

She was forced to reluctantly agree. There _wasn't_ anything they could do about it now, so it would have to be put aside for the time being. Despite that, she still couldn't help but think it was somehow important, and that she'd come to regret not having looked into whatever it was that had been bothering her in Garnet. She sighed and nodded.

"You're right. We should just do this thing."

He caught her gaze. "You ready, then?" he asked, dread once more almost swallowing him at the thought of dragging her into such dangerous circumstances.

Lucy stood from her crouch, her look just chalk full of determination. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Then you should summon Taurus and Cancer and get them started, beautiful."

She gave no answer, simply calling her power and allowing it to flow gently from her. Loke once again noted that she was becoming stronger by leaps and bounds; she was using less of her magic in the summoning now and in a more efficient manner than ever before, which was a very good thing. Even calling for both Taurus and Cancer at once, she was able to keep the flare of power smaller than she'd used to be able to when summoning just one.

He was impressed.

"Miss Lu-" Taurus started to bellow as soon as he was in sight.

"Quiet!" Loke snapped before he could get any bottom under his voice. "We don't need you giving us away!"

The bull closed his mouth so hard his teeth hurt and gulped; it seemed the lion was far more tense than usual and he wasn't about to push his buttons and make it any worse.

Lucy shot her partner a grateful glance, then outlined what she needed both spirits to do. With a leering grin from Taurus and a wink from Cancer, the two vanished as soon as they were filled in on the situation and what was needed from them.

Loke motioned to the blonde to remain hidden yet and stared tensely down onto the property as they waited for the sounds of shouting and combat to begin their infiltration.

It wasn't long in coming. Mere moments after the two zodiac spirits had headed off a loud roar of challenge from Taurus could be heard clearly even from their position, and they noted more than a few people running from other parts of the compound towards the ruckus the two spirits were kicking up.

Looked like the distraction tactic was working quite well.

The copper-haired spirit waited until they couldn't see anymore people heading in that direction, and hoping that most of those near their point of entry had been drawn away, he beckoned his mistress forward.

"It's time," he said in a low tone. "Follow me, and stay close." Their eyes caught and held, and without giving himself any time to think about it, he darted his head forward and pressed a rather desperate kiss to her lips. He only allowed himself to linger for a second, but it was enough to startle a bright flush out of his princess. He grinned tightly at her as he pulled away, and grabbed her hand. "Come on. In we go."

Mind shorting out from the surprise contact, Lucy's eyes softened on him in understanding after a few seconds, and she looked at him as though she were committing him to memory, just in case. But she didn't hesitate when he tugged her forward, and they started a low run towards the area they'd chosen for their own entry into the compound.

It was time to face whatever was waiting for them down below.

~~LoLu~~

They made it down and to the perimeter of the ranch itself without being intercepted in any way, and though it certainly made things easier, it also made Loke's instincts scream in warning. Again, like all of it so far, it was too easy. And it made his heart sink with the knowledge – it meant that something bad was going to happen.

He trusted his instincts above anything else, and that had saved him more times than he could count. Now, hiding behind the wall of what seemed to be a small storage building across an open yard from the barn they were heading for, he let out a low curse. There was still no one in sight, and that was all wrong. Surely every person on the compound hadn't run off to where Taurus and Cancer were putting up a good fight, from the sounds of it. So where were the rest at?

Would they find them laying in wait inside one of the buildings?

"What's wrong?" Lucy whispered. "Do you see anyone?"

"No... and that's what's wrong."

Though he didn't say anything else, the blonde found she understood exactly why he would say that. Her own tension was already high, her body on full alert. There was danger waiting for them here, she could literally _feel_ it, feel the eyes on her though no one was attempting to stop them.

She let out an almost silent huff in frustration. "Well, it doesn't really matter, since we don't have a choice. We may as well take the chance and make our run towards the barn now."

Loke cursed under his breath again, but he couldn't do anything but agree. "Yeah," he whispered back. "Let's go. And remember-" his eyes were golden as they pinned her, startling Lucy, "-stay with me. Don't go wandering off. We don't want to get separated here."

The young woman could do little but nod, surprise at the cold golden gaze robbing her of her voice. He looked completely feral in a way she'd never seen from him before.

Grabbing her hand once again, he broke into a run towards the building in question, taking the straightest, most direct path he could despite the danger of being spotted. Truthfully, he'd almost feel better if they _were_ intercepted. This lack of response to their intrusion was making him more and more uneasy the further into the compound they ventured.

Unfortunately for his nerves no one appeared, no voices shouted at them – there was just nothing. It was like the entire compound was empty. Even the noise from the other spirits had disappeared, leaving nothing but a heavy, eerie silence.

"Taurus and Cancer – they've had to go back," Lucy gasped out just as they reached the place they'd been heading and pressed against the exterior wall.

"I figured," he replied shortly.

Still holding tightly to her hand, he pulled her towards a side door, his eyes darting continually to every possible place someone could be hiding. But though there were plenty, there was still no outcry or movement from anywhere. Apprehension increasing by the minute, Loke carefully tested the door, finding it unlocked. With a warning glance over his shoulder at his mistress, he slowly and quietly tugged it open.

Still no objections or sign of any living thing, though he could tell they _were_ being watched – from somewhere.

 _This is going from bad to worse. I think it's a trap... and we don't have any other choice but to venture in and let it close around us._ His eyes, already gold, flashed and went slit-pupiled in response. He was going to absolutely _destroy_ Varrick Vashton for forcing him to bring his princess into such danger.

With no other options, the two slipped inside and carefully closed the door behind them. Faint, nonetheless, the click sounded ominous to Lucy, and her already heavy sense of danger doubled. What kind of hell was waiting for them here?

With her free hand she reached down to her belt and removed her whip. Keeping it coiled tightly in her grasp for now, she let her eyes wander around the large, completely open space, and found she wasn't surprised at what they were telling her.

This was most definitely _not_ a barn.

Polished hardwood covered the entirety of the floors, and the walls were solid, not just wooden planking as it was on the outside. The lighting was bright enough to leave no shadows, but diffused a little, making it soft rather than harsh, and there were no furnishings of any sort.

And Lucy found she knew what this space was used for.

"It's a training area for the mages, like we thought," she said, just loud enough for her partner to hear.

"Mhm. And if you look over there-" Loke pointed towards the back end of the building, on the left, "-stairs."

The large, open space was unnervingly quiet. She looked around, searching for another entrance or exit to the building, but there were none. _I don't like that - we're essentially trapped in here. I think... I think they knew we were coming._

She shared her thoughts with her partner in a low tone.

"I'm getting the same feeling," he replied. "But there's nothing we can do about it other than spring said trap."

Unhappy, nonetheless Lucy could do nothing but agree. "Then we might as well head for those stairs. There's nothing up here of any interest, anyway."

With nothing more to say they darted for the stairs, just in case someone did try to enter the building. As soon as they made it and were out-of-sight of anyone coming in the main door, they relaxed just a little and turned their attention to the stairs - and to the door at the bottom of them.

It was a heavy steel door, an incongruous thing to find in such a place – at least under normal circumstances. It had several strong locks on it, but as they reached the bottom of the stairs and studied it, none of them were actually engaged. Just what was it that Vashton was trying to hide down there?

Taking a deep breath, Loke reached out for the handle and pressed it down as quietly as possible, not surprised to find that it opened almost noiselessly. Tightening his grip on Lucy's hand, he pushed it inward, and slowly poked his head around it. Seeing no one, he stepped inside, his mistress right behind.

Their eyes were met with a long hallway pierced by many doors, all of them closed, though none sported locks like the door they'd just come through. Disgruntled at the thought of having to search every single one, he glanced behind him and met Lucy's gaze.

"Are the keys anywhere on this floor?"

After a moment, she shook her head. "No. They're at least one more floor down, if not two."

"Great," he muttered, "now we just have to find where the next set of stairs are."

The blonde looked around and then pointed down the hall. "Well, I don't think they're inside any of those rooms. The hallway turns down there at the end of it, so maybe we should check that out. If we don't find the stairs in that direction, then I guess we'll have no choice but to check every room."

Left unsaid was her own reluctance to the thought of having to search behind every door.

Without another word Loke started cautiously down the hall, his hand still holding tightly to Lucy's.

But despite the heavy feeling of being watched, everything was still, the only noises their own. However, the closer they got to the sharp right turn at the end of this part of the hallway, the more his senses started snarling.

There was something – or someone – around that corner.

He stopped just before reaching it and looked over his shoulder, about to warn his mistress, but she shook her head with a finger over her lips. "I know," she mouthed, her face set in stern lines that didn't really suit her. She should never look like that, she should only and ever be smiling and happy. Just one more thing the lion was going to make Varrick and his cronies pay for. "I'm ready when you are."

He nodded, but just as he went to step around the corner, a cackling sort of laugh met his ears, and unable to believe what they were telling him, he moved out from behind the corner, tugging Lucy with him.

And then he swore. Well, that explained the heavy, creepy feeling of being watched.

"Corvus," he growled. "So at least one of these bastards is a celestial mage. You here to fight me? You're no match and you know it."

Another cackling laugh met his question, and the raven ruffled his feathers as he alighted on the floor. "I will fight you if I must, but that is not my purpose at this time. No, I'm actually here to encourage you." He stepped aside, gesturing behind him at the stairs they'd been looking for. "Your opponent awaits you, if you but descend a little further." Then he looked directly at a stunned Lucy, eyeing her narrowly before Loke yanked her closer than she had already been and stepped in front of her. "A pretty little bauble, yes, no doubt. You always were a sucker for the ladies, Leo. But you should have kept your eyes on our kind and left the humans to their own pathetic species. It will be your downfall... if you aren't very, very careful."

"You leave Lucy out of this, Corvus. I'm warning you, if you so much as breathe on her..."

"Oh, I won't have to." The raven's flat black eyes flashed for a moment. "No, it isn't I that you should be worrying about."

"Hey! Stop talking about me as if I weren't even here!" Lucy yelled as she yanked her hand out of Loke's and fisted both of them. "I can take care of myself, so if you've got a problem with me, then say it to me, not him."

Corvus sniffed disdainfully, then looked at the lion. "Control your _pet_ , Leo. Your opponent won't be so lenient towards her mouthiness."

Warning bells were going off all through Loke's mind. Why was a celestial spirit that had a human master speaking of them as though they were nothing more than animals?

Just as Lucy went to start shouting at the other spirit again, Loke grabbed her hand and shook his head. "Ignore him, love. He's just a glorified errand boy, it seems. The one we came here after is down below, so that's where we need to go. But something a lot stranger than we thought is going on here, so be doubly on your guard – and like I said earlier, stay with me, okay?"

Growling with anger at the way Corvus had spoken of her, nonetheless, she forced her fury back down and nodded. The mission was more important than her irritation at the other spirit's insults. She met Loke's quick glance and smiled tightly. "Got it."

The lion held her gaze for a few seconds, then looked back at the raven. "Get out of the way, Corvus. I'm not bringing Lucy any closer to those stairs until you're gone."

Clacking his beak, the raven laughed as he vanished, his, "Worried for your little human? You should be," leaving Loke infuriated – and with his heart almost in his throat with fear.

Just what the hell was going on in this place... and what did it have to do with his mistress?


	19. Chapter 19

~~LoLu~~

 **Chapter 19**

~~LoLu~~

" _Come... come... come to me..."_

Lucy blinked. "Come," she mumbled, her gaze beginning to go blank. "Yes, I'm coming."

She began to brush past Loke as though he weren't even there, following the voice. It was hypnotic, soothing and mellow, and she wanted to find it. "I'm coming," she muttered again as she moved – until she was jerked back by a hand as the lion grabbed at her, pulling her attention back to their surroundings. Sort of.

"Oh!" she started in surprise, shaking her head and blinking dilated eyes rapidly.

"What the hell were you doing, Lucy?" Loke demanded, staring suspiciously at her. When she'd tried to pass him, her eyes had been blank, odd.

"I hear it again," she said, her attention seeming to be divided between him and something else. "It's a voice... it wants me to come."

"So you were just going to do it?!" he snapped, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

His display of temper seemed to capture more of her attention, and the dazed look in her eyes faded a little more. She scowled at him. "I didn't mean to. I couldn't-" her brows drew down further, only now she looked puzzled rather than annoyed, "-couldn't fight it. It was so mesmerizing, and suddenly it was all I could hear."

Loke was getting more and more edgy the further into this they got. Something was very, very wrong here, far more than they'd had any indication of from the mission parameters they'd been given. He'd heard nothing like what his mistress was describing, but he didn't doubt what she was telling him, because he'd seen the look on her face. She had definitely not been oriented to their current surroundings.

"Can you still hear it?"

"Yes." She shook her head again with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, putting the hand he wasn't holding against the side of her head. "I'm... I'm okay. I can... fight it."

He watched her dubiously for a few seconds. "And all it's saying is to come?"

She nodded, opening her eyes back up and meeting his gaze. She let her free hand fall, and viciously pinched herself on the thigh. "Ow!" she gasped, rubbing at the harsh sting, but the pain seemed to orient her further, and she looked back up at Loke with cleared eyes. After a moment, she stated more than asked, "You don't hear it, do you?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

Brows furrowed, Loke said, "I don't like this, Lucy, I don't like this at all. They knew we were coming and wanted us to, that's why it was so easy. I think... I think this whole thing was a trap, set for... _you_. " He couldn't explain his belief fully, but more and more the whole thing was making his instincts scream that out, and he wasn't about to argue with them. If he was wrong then he'd be wrong, and no harm done. But if he was right...

"It doesn't matter. We're already inside the spider's lair, and it's not like we can just walk back out."

"Actually, we can, or didn't you remember that you're as much a spirit as I am now? We can just go through our gates and go back to Garnet and regroup," he argued. "This whole thing is entirely different than what we thought it was. You're in danger here, Lucy, and I won't have it."

The young woman looked at him, uncertain of what to think. Should they leave and try to regroup, as he'd said? But what good would that do in the end? They still wouldn't know anything of what they were facing, and if Gaults and his agents hadn't been able to find out anything of what was really going on out here before, then how would they?

"Well..." she vacillated, "I don't know... do you really think it's going to do any good?"

"It's the safest plan right now," he insisted, beginning to reach for the energy of his gate.

He came up blank.

"What the hell?" He tried again, but still couldn't grasp it. He could feel it, but it was just out of reach, like it was slightly out of phase with him.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't reach my gate," he replied with disbelief. "Try to see if you can reach yours."

"No way! I'm not leaving you here, idiot!" she yelled, immediately knowing where he was going with that. She wrenched her captive arm out of his grasp and smacked him in the chest, fuming.

"Just try!"

She glared at him, but when he didn't back down she grudgingly did as he asked. She found she wasn't particularly surprised that she couldn't reach hers, either. (Secretly she was glad for that, though, because that would have been the mother of all arguments – Loke would have tried to force her to go back and leave him behind, and there was no way in hell she was going to do it. This just made things easier.)

"No, I can't. It's strange. I can feel it, but it just won't... respond."

He stared at her through slitted eyes. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

"Oh, for star's sakes, no, I'm not just saying that!" she retorted, throwing her hands up. "So since there's no going back, can we get a move on?"

Cursing, Loke stared down the stairs inimically. "Fine," he finally sighed. "You're right. It looks like we'll have to see this through. Don't let go of my hand," he warned her as he grasped it again, "and stay behind me."

She rolled her eyes. "You've said that already."

"Yeah, but you don't always listen so well, so I'm just making sure."

That was met with a narrowed, slightly deadly gaze. "You'll pay for that later, Loke."

He flashed her a naughty grin. "I'll hold you to that, beautiful."

It was her turn to sigh, her expression mostly flat with just a touch of weary annoyance. "Really? Is there ever a time you _don't_ flirt?" _Does he always make lewd insinuations at inappropriate times?_

The grin disappeared. "Yes, there's a few occasions. But I was just trying to lighten the mood for a moment this time. Now it's back to business."

"Comedic relief in the middle of hell?" she face-palmed incredulously. "Someone needs to teach you better timing. _Badly_."

"Yeah, yeah, you can do that later. For now, let's go."

 _Seriously. When we get out of this, I'm going to hurt him._ "Lead the way then, oh mighty lion," she said in a tone chalk full of irony as she gestured at the stairs.

"As you say, love," he flashed her a tight grin, then tugged her cautiously down them.

This time the stairs came to a landing, and then curved down another floor. The hall they opened on to led straight from there, but it was short and featureless, dead-ending at another heavy door. The hairs on the back of Loke's neck stood on end, and he came to a stop at the bottom of the steps.

Someone was in that hall with them, he could feel it, but there was no sign of anything living but he and Lucy. After a moment, his eyes narrowed and focused and all his other senses on high alert, he continued forward slowly, his hand tightening on hers.

"What's wrong?" she asked, feeling something off, but not sure what it was.

"Someone's here," he answered absently, too busy scanning their surroundings to pay full attention.

Lucy's eyes darted around, and she shook her head. "There's nowhere for anyone to hide."

"Didn't you know, sweetheart? There are some things that can hide in plain sight."

 _Well_ , she shrugged inwardly, _that's certainly true._ Still...

"That voice was telling me to come. Even if there is someone here, I don't think they're going to try to stop us from going on."

There was a skittering sound, and a section of the wall just ahead of them blurred. What looked like some sort of lizard became visible as it moved onto the floor and then stood up on two legs, growing larger as it did. Lucy blinked, thinking she was seeing things for a moment.

"Shit! Chameleon!" Loke snarled, tensing. "You, too?"

"You should listen to your little human, Leo," the lizard hissed. "She is right. I am only here to make sure you do not try to leave. As long as you continue on, I will not interfere."

"Chameleon?" Lucy asked, trying to flip through her knowledge of the constellations, and what they were capable of.

"He's what you could call a bottom-feeder in the spirit world," the lion growled, glaring at the other male. "He does a little of this, a little of that – mostly spying and assassinations."

The blonde blanched. _Assassinations? I... I didn't know..._ "Uh," was all she could think of to say as she stared at the spirit with horror.

The lizard gave what on anything human would have been a smile, but that only looked terrifying on him, and his eyes said he meant it to be that way. "Yes, I have killed many humans. Whatever my master desires, true?" he mocked. "Is that not right, Leo?"

"There's limits, and you know it," Loke snapped back. "What the hell is going on here in your little funhouse, Chameleon?"

Fading out of sight again, the spirit scrabbled back up the wall and darted behind them, blocking the stairway so they couldn't get back without going through him first. Then he rephased into sight and bowed with derision.

"All you need to do is go through that door, and you will learn all that you want to know, Leo. All your many questions will be answered, I promise you that."

Lucy stared at the door. She really didn't want to go through it, but they had no other choice.

 _Like sheep to the slaughter..._

… _and a monster within._

~~LoLu~~

Whatever they'd been expecting when they slipped through the door, it certainly wasn't what they found. Open and fairly large, it seemed a solid stone chamber. It was dim, the corners covered in deep shadows and only the center lighted. Again, like the top floor of this 'barn' it was empty of all furnishings except for a single, plain wooden chair.

Against the far wall, just behind the chair, a man was chained. Held above the floor, both arms and legs were stretched out and locked down, leaving him unable to move his body. His head hung down, and it was clear that he wasn't conscious.

And that he'd probably been there for a _very_ long while.

His body was thin and emaciated, his clothes, whatever they'd once been, in tatters. He seemed little more than skin and bones, but there were no obvious injuries to his person. He didn't move or react to their presence in any way, and Lucy wondered if he were even alive.

"Okay, what's going on in this hellhole?!" Loke demanded loudly. "You led us here, made sure we'd find this place. Come out from wherever you're hiding and explain what all this is about!"

There was a deep chuckle from one of the darkened corners, and the very same voice that Lucy had heard whispering to her earlier spoke up.

Completely ignoring Loke, he said, "Well, come out where I can see you, girl."

The celestial mage and newest spirit shrank back, not so drawn to the voice now – the mesmerizing quality it had held earlier was notably absent, and instead it seemed malevolent, angry.

Loke stepped forward, letting go of Lucy's arm and moving completely in front of her, hiding her from whoever was in the shadows. He was frowning, staring at the particular patch of darkness the person was speaking from with dangerous intensity. There was something about that voice...

"You don't talk to her, you talk to me. What the hell do you want with Lucy, anyway?"

The man chuckled again, though he still hadn't moved into the light.

"I merely wish to return to her what was lost, that's all."

 _What was lost...?_

"Works both ways. You want to see her, we want to see you. Why don't you stop hiding?" he taunted, ready to call up his power at a moment's notice. He might not be able to access his gate right now, but he definitely wasn't cut off from his magic.

"Fair enough, I suppose." There was a shift in the darkness and the dim light flashed off of something, and then a man walked out of the shadows as though he owned them. He smiled laconically at the lion. "So, now you see me. Your turn, girl," he replied, meeting Lucy's eyes over the lion's shoulder.

He was of average height and build, his features even but nothing spectacular. He seemed ordinary, the kind of man who could disappear into a crowd and never even be noticed. The only thing that set him apart from everyone else was that voice. It sounded vaguely familiar to Loke, but just slightly off in a way he couldn't describe.

Definitely intimidated, Lucy wasn't going to show it, and though her lion made a disapproving sound and put out a hand to keep her back when she moved, she stepped from behind him just enough to be seen fully by the other man. "You're Varrick Vashton, aren't you?" she demanded defiantly, glaring at him.

He smiled mockingly at her and shrugged. "You may call me that." Then he glanced at Loke slyly. "Although he knows me under a different moniker. Names are so easy to change, after all."

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "I've never seen you before." _Though I swear I've heard that voice somewhere – or one very much like it._

"Are you so very sure about that? Perhaps you should look closer, Leo." The man shimmered like a mirage for a moment and someone quite different was standing there – and then he was Varrick Vashton again. Loke froze, now stunned and very uncertain of his footing. He almost felt dizzy.

"What the hell... Cepheus?"

And the man threw back his head and laughed, before shimmering again. When the light faded, Varrick was laying on the floor unconscious and the spirit was still standing there, watching Lucy with a sinister expression that had the lion's hair almost standing on end.

~~LoLu~~

"C-Cepheus?" Lucy stammered, looking between Loke and the other man. He was dark-haired with red eyes that shimmered almost like jewels against lightly bronzed skin. He certainly looked _nothing_ like he had when they'd walked into the room. "Like... the _constellation_ Cepheus? The King of Ethiopia?"

"One and the same, girl. You're quite smart, aren't you?" he mocked lightly. "Surprising, really. Leo usually surrounds himself with empty-headed ones that aren't much good for anything but a little fun. Of course, since you have his key, it isn't like he had any choice in the matter, I suppose. Just another instance of a spirit being forced to bow to the will of a lowly human, but that's the whole point, isn't it? We're so much more than human, but enslaved by a weak, ill-bred race with no light of their own."

"Oh, fuck your propensity for high-style speeches, Cepheus," Loke finally said, getting past his shock enough to function. "We aren't interested. How the hell are you even here?"

The man tsked softly, looking loftily at the lion. "Now, now, Leo, do watch your language. There's no need to be foul."

Beginning to get really annoyed, the copper-haired spirit ignited his fists and prepared himself to attack. "I'm not here to bandy words with you. Either tell us what you want or shut the hell up and fight me."

For a long moment the other spirit didn't react, his face unreadable, and then he walked over to the chair and turned it around to face his guests. Once it was settled to his satisfaction, he sat down in it and made himself comfortable.

"You wish to know what this is all about? Why I drew you here, and why this man is on the wall behind me? Then I will tell you, Leo. I will tell you how I am here, and why I am. I shall tell you more than you ever wanted to know. And then we will see what we will see."

"No way!" Lucy suddenly cried, outraged. "You want to sit around and talk while you've got some guy hanging on your wall like that, you monster? Is he even still alive?"

"Yeah, he's alive," Leo said, not taking his eyes off his opponent. "I can hear him breathing."

"Then we need to get him down from there!"

That got a reaction from the other spirit. "You will not!" he thundered, his eyes flashing with rage. Then he stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, before reopening them. They were once more seemingly calm. He smiled at her, and said, "You will stand and not speak, girl," his voice once more smooth and hypnotic, lulling her.

She instantly froze obediently, her eyes glazing over. "Yes, Your Highness," she replied woodenly, and then fell silent.

Loke snarled. "Let go of her, Cepheus, I'm warning you. Play your tricks on someone else."

"I'm just keeping her quiet for the time being. You wanted answers, didn't you? This way you'll just get them faster." He met Leo's infuriated gaze almost amiably. "What do you want to know first?"

"How about starting off with how the hell you're here in the mortal world without a summoner, and then go from there?" he finally told the man, letting go his immediate control of his magic and holding it just under his skin. The first move that bastard made for Lucy, and he'd get it. But for now... they needed answers. "Start talking. And don't bother trying to use your vocal glamour on me, because I'm not about to fall for it."

Cepheus chuckled. "Oh, very well, Leo. We will speak as equals then – king to king."

Loke snorted but didn't say anything, and the other man's face darkened, something dangerous flashing in his eyes.

"The simple answer to my presence here in the mortal realm without a summoner is that I possessed the body of a human, as should have been obvious to you the moment you saw me appear from within him. Possession isn't unheard of, though I will admit that a celestial spirit possessing a human is... new."

Loke looked taken aback as he glanced at the man that was still laying on the floor unconscious. "Possession?"

"Yes. Varrick Vashton was once just another simple-minded human, a celestial mage of some small power. While it has turned my stomach having to be in such close contact so as to possess him, I needed a host so that I could stay here without consequence, and he provided it."

 _Damn._ "And the rest of it? Why are you here, and what does that guy behind you have to do with it? And why are you after Lucy?"

"One question at a time. You wish to know why I'm here like this? In two words, for revenge."

Loke blinked. "Revenge?" he repeated, taken aback. "Revenge against who?"

Cepheus shrugged. "Specifically? On the refuse behind me, but I'll take the chance to take as many other humans down as I can, as well. They deserve nothing better."

Shaking his head, Leo just looked more puzzled. "You want revenge on everyone for the actions of one man?"

His question was met with an inclination of the other man's head. "But as I said, mainly against the animal on the wall behind me."

"So you're going to kill him?"

"Kill? No, no, not at all, Leo. No... death... is far too easy. I'm making him _live_ – but the world I've created inside his mind for him to do that in... well, let's just say it could give the meaning to the word hell. And he deserves every long, excruciating second of it, too." Cepheus' jaw clenched as a great rage burned in his eyes for a moment, and then he deliberately relaxed himself again. "Oh, yes... he more than deserves it."

But behind that spark of rage in the other spirit's eyes there was just the merest glimpse of an immense pain, and Loke was very uncertain at this point where all this was going, or how he even felt about it. It was clear, at least, that there was a history here, something that had driven the other spirit to these extreme lengths.

"What's he done to you, Cepheus?" he asked quietly. "What's he done that you hate him so very much?"

The other spirit's eyes fell closed and his jaw tightened for a moment as he fought to maintain his calm, before he opened his eyes once more, and met the zodiac leader's gaze.

"He raped and abused my wife, Leo – repeatedly."

The obscene words echoed around the room.

Loke almost choked on his shock, staring wide-eyed at the dark-haired man. "W-what? How t-the-"

"He was her key-holder," Cepheus interrupted, more rage and pain showing the more he talked. It was quite clear that he was very tightly strung. "He found a way to control a spirit, to make them do his bidding no matter what it was, even if it went against their established contract. And so he forced himself on my beautiful Cassiopeia repeatedly, and she could do nothing to protect herself." His fists clenched, and the man behind him let out a low moan of pain at the action, but did not awaken. "She has suffered so much at his hands, and now he suffers even more at mine. Why should I let him get away with what he's done? He should be made to pay, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Making him pay," he spat.

Still absolutely horrified by what he was hearing, Loke didn't even know what to say. If someone had done that to his beloved Lucy, he would probably be doing the same thing as Cepheus. But if that was the truth, then why did he seem to be after other people that hadn't done anything to him? And why his princess in particular?

He shook his head, feeling sick. "If that's true, then I could certainly understand why you went after him, Cepheus. But what's Lucy got to do with this? She hasn't done anything to you."

"She's one of those filthy humans, Leo," he roared suddenly, his earlier stillness now gone as he leapt from the chair and began pacing in front of it, kicking Vashton's body aside in the process. "I don't care if she's become a spirit – she's still the enemy! These mortals enslave us and use us however they wish, and what does Seirei-o do? Nothing! His laws protect them and leave us vulnerable. What kind of king does that to his own? You should understand me perfectly – don't think I don't know what happened to you because of that bitch that owned your key before. What she was doing to Aries, and how you were almost forced to your death because of Seirei-o's disgusting laws! And yet you would still stand there and defend even one of them?"

"You can't blame the innocent for the acts of the guilty, Cepheus! Lucy would never harm any of her spirits in any way. This isn't her fault."

"She's a human!" he shouted. "No fake 'Joining' will make her otherwise in my eyes!"

"So you think I'm going to let you just take out your bitterness on her?" Loke asked disbelievingly. "You've totally lost it."

At that, Cepheus stopped his jagged movements and suddenly became calm again. "Really, in the end my goal in all this is to permanently sever all access to our world from theirs. The heavens should not bow to the earth. It's just unfortunate for her that she was changed into a spirit. I can't countenance one of them calling our world their own, and there are others – like Chameleon and Corvus - that agree with me. If that fool Delenn had left well enough alone and not used Marionette on her in the beginning, she would not be of any concern to me."

"You're not convincing me here, Cepheus. Lucy _still_ isn't of any concern to you. I understand your anger now, and I can't even... can't even _believe_ what you and Cassiopeia have gone through, but I won't allow you to hurt my mistress. If you try, I _will_ fight you, I'm warning you."

It was silent for several long seconds, and then the dark-haired spirit continued speaking as if Loke hadn't said a word, "Do you know, it's almost ironic. When I went searching for ways to take my vengeance on the scum behind me, I came across a prophecy. When I heard it, I knew I had to stop it from happening at any cost. And that was part of what I was trying to do when I began using Marionette. But after everything, I find that the joke is on me, because _I_ was the one that brought that prophecy to fruition with my own plans. How twisted is that?"

Thoroughly confused, Loke stared at Cepheus. "Prophecy?" He was beginning to believe that the spirit really _had_ been driven over the edge into insanity by what had been done to his wife, which he could certainly understand. But now he was dragging some so-called prophecy into the whole thing?

The other man shot him a thin smile, eyeing him shrewdly. "You think me crazy, do you not? Well, and perhaps I am. But so is the world around us." He paused, then asked, "Do you wish to hear this piece of drivel?"

Leo nodded dumbly, unable to think of anything to say.

" _When the lion falls from the sky, the herald of a new day shall save him,_

 _and return him to his true place above._

 _An earthly star ascending to the heavens she will be,_

 _an incandescent soul of the one true power,_

 _yet marred by wrongful vengeance._

"That is... the relevant part of that prophecy. And it's clearly speaking of her." He began to laugh, then, though it wasn't a friendly sound. " _An earthly star ascending to the heavens_... I created my own nightmare in Lucy Heartfilia. And so I am now obliged to undo my mistake." He snorted. " _Wrongful vengeance._ There is nothing wrongful about it. Humans cannot be trusted. They are all evil at their cores, no matter what that prophecy says."

Loke's eyes narrowed. Now they were getting down to it. "What are you planning to do to her?" he demanded, his power beginning to rise again. As horrified as he was by the tale he'd just been told, there was no way he was letting Cepheus harm the woman he loved.

"I'm just going to return her to her mortal form, Leo, that's all."

The lion froze and his heart stuttered in his chest. "Seirei-o said that couldn't be done without killing her," he said, almost fatalistically waiting for what he was certain was coming.

"Oh, he was right. It'll kill her, but she won't be a spirit anymore, and that's all I care about. And try as you might, Leo, you will not be able to stop me. I will purge our world of her mortal taint, and then sever our realms forever. No spirit will ever have to suffer at the hands of a human again."

The silence in the room was complete as a churning wrath of frustrated rage and fear choked Loke's air off. He had no idea of what Cepheus was going to do in order to return his mistress to her human form, and so had no idea how to stop it.

 _What the hell do I do now?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **~~LoLu~~**

Loke stared across the expanse of the massive room at his opponent. _Was the space getting bigger?_

Cepheus looked back, his expression fixed and solemn.

"I sincerely wish we did not have to fight, Leo," the other spirit said, a little sadly. "But I know that even if you agreed with me you would have no choice, thanks to Serei-o and his deplorable laws. So I will try to make it quick and as painless as possible for you. Then, once the Heartfilia girl is human again and our realm severed from this one, our wondrous _king_ will have nothing more to say, and we will all be freed of our _servitude_."

The lion frowned, suspicious. "You've never before beaten me in battle, so what makes you think that you will now?" _And so apparently easily? To just say it like that..._

"I'm not the same man I used to be," Cepheus returned with a suddenly proud, rather overbearing smile that grated on Loke's nerves. "I'm much, much stronger now."

"And so you think that I'll just give you a token fight and then step aside?" he questioned tightly. "Obey only the letter of the law?"

"Why wouldn't you?" his opponent asked as he began to draw in power in a very open manner. "I know that you have to fight to protect your _owner,_ " he spat, "but why should you fight all that hard for a damned human?"

Loke allowed his own power to manifest, this time into a sword made of light. He rarely chose to fight that way, preferring a melee battle to anything else, but he knew the King of Ethiopia, and how he would at least begin the fight. He wasn't overly concerned; despite not using this method of combat often, he was very, very good. He glanced at a still silent and motionless Lucy, noting her blank eyes, and knew that she wouldn't remember anything that was currently happening.

He deliberately stepped in front of her and raised his weapon.

"Lucy isn't just my master, Cepheus, so don't expect some lackluster, token defense of her," he felt it only fair to warn.

"Oh?" the other spirit asked, beginning to frown.

The leader of the zodiac straightened proudly. He was not ashamed of his feelings for the woman behind him. Even if he hadn't told _her_ yet...

"I love her, so I'll fight to the death to protect her from you and anything else the universe can throw at her. I can't allow you to win this. I _won't._ For her sake, I will defeat you yet again."

It was stated plainly, with no false superiority or joking manner, his expression calm and now focused and intent. Let it never be said that when it was called for, he couldn't be serious. And it was definitely being called for in this instance.

Cepheus stared at him in horror.

"In all the millenia since we have existed, you've never let yourself get emotional with any female you've taken beyond a mild affection. Now, _now_ you choose to _love_ – and a _lesser being_? _That thrice-damned prophecy was right again!_ The universe has gone to madness," he snarled, finally allowing his own sword to manifest, and glared at the copper-haired man facing him. "I will simply have to put a stop to it – this cannot be allowed to continue."

That was it, the gloves were off, and both knew it. The fight for Lucy's life, for their world as it was now, had begun.

Loke tossed his glasses off to the side without care and slashed his weapon through the air, reacquainting himself with its balance. It had, after all, been a while since he'd wielded it. It didn't take but a few moments for him to fall back into the mindset, and he watched with narrowed eyes as his opponent did the same.

The lion wasn't stupid. He could feel the power that Cepheus was not only emitting at the current time, but also what he was keeping back. And it was impressive, there was no doubt about that. He had definitely become much, much stronger.

That, however, wasn't what worried him. He was quite equal himself to such power, even stronger, and they both knew it. No, what concerned him was just what this new, enraged, and definitely unbalanced version of Ethiopia's king was going to try to pull, because it was most certain that he already had a plan ready. Cepheus _knew_ he could not just defeat the zodiac lion in a straight fight of power against power, even with his current strength, so he had some other plan that Loke knew nothing of. That was a clear disadvantage for him, and he knew it. He would have to be ready for _anything_.

Easily thought; not so easily done.

He felt no hatred towards the other man, however. His soul was still cold and sick at what Cepheus had told him, and he was most definitely angry at the man hanging on the wall behind them. He had known a woman once, a friend that had been assaulted in that manner, and he would never forget the pain in her eyes, the wounded look that had never quite faded, and everything that she had gone through because of it. She'd never known that he had taken her vengeance for her, and he didn't regret doing it. Loke was quite sure the creep had done the same to others, and he most definitely deserved what he'd gotten.

And there were the two that had assaulted his beloved, as well – the ones he'd saved her from, just before she'd saved him. The very thought of anyone touching her in such a forced manner... he felt fury well up inside, and could very well understand Cepheus' unimaginable pain and rage himself, for he knew he'd feel the same in the other man's place.

However... that didn't excuse his descent into a madness that made him willing and even eager to harm the innocent, and his Lucy was definitely innocent. He deeply regretted that it had come to this, but he couldn't allow pity or his understanding of the other spirit's pain to move him. He would have to be as ruthless as he knew Cepheus was going to be.

The dark-haired spirit wasted no time coming at him, which was no surprise to Loke. Their swords clashed, echoing eerily in the room, and part of his mind detached, the lion watched his enemy closely. He was curious – while it was clear that the other spirit had indeed gotten stronger, he wondered if that had also carried over into his actual combat skills. Would he have gotten better in this particular arena, or not?

It quickly became clear as he leaped over a low swing that Cepheus had in fact _not_ worked on his physical fighting skills – while he was a decent opponent, he still fell into the same patterns and even mistakes that he always had. _Advantage to me, then – at least in this,_ he thought.

Another clash of steel, and another, and each time Cepheus tried to break his guard he failed. But he didn't seem to be all that bothered by that fact, and that was unusual enough to catch Loke's attention. Before, every time they'd fought in such a manner, his inability to best his opponent on this field had caused him to lose his control, which of course just made him lose the fight even faster. This time, there was no such indication of temper...

So. This was simply a game to him. He knew he couldn't win on this field, and didn't plan to. It was almost as though... the other man was simply trying to distract him – to keep him occupied.

Immediately his attention flashed back to Lucy, but he could as yet discern no danger to her, no magic being used against her... there was nothing.

 _What is this bastard playing at?!_ hewondered, gritting his teeth in anger.

If Loke weren't very careful, he'd be the one falling into the trap of losing control of his temper, and that would be very bad. He was already terribly frustrated at being forced into a defensive position, since he had no idea what was coming or from where. He didn't like to go into battles with so little information, though it was truthfully rare that he knew fully what was coming in any given battle, of course. Still, he usually had at least an _idea_ of what to expect, and here he did not – except that Cepheus intended to turn Lucy back to her human state.

But even knowing that, he still knew _nothing._ Because he had no idea how such a thing was possible, how the other spirit even intended to attempt it.

One thing was for certain – it would take an incredible amount of power, as was clear from the fact that the man crossing weapons with him was holding most of his in reserve.

Loke shuddered at the thought of Lucy being subjected yet again to such high levels of power – it reminded him far too much of what he'd been forced to do to her to rid her of the darkness Marionette had left behind. The pain had been _agonizing_ for her, he quite clearly remembered, and he couldn't even fathom letting someone else cause her pain like that again.

Then again, Lucy was more powerful than Cepheus, as well. So how was he planning to overcome _her_?

Too many questions and no damned answers.

 _Time to see if I can unsettle him, knock him off his game. I need to get inside his head, and the only way to do that is to push him hard._

A quick flurry of strikes, and then, "Speaking of freedom and servitude, Cepheus," he got out between blows, "did you know that because Lucy is now a spirit herself, all those of us whose keys she owned will never have to worry over an unkind owner again? It's just too bad that you didn't simply give her all the keys you've collected – if you had they'd already _be_ free instead of having to wait to see if you could succeed with your... _grand plan_." He deliberately allowed a measure of disdain to slip into his voice, knowing quite well that the other man had never handled being mocked at all well.

Sure enough, there was a flash of anger in his eyes, but then his expression went flat again, and Loke knew he was going to have to push a lot harder to get what he was after.

"A fallacy, Leo. There is no freedom to be had as long as we are tied to those thrice-damned keys and anyone can claim they 'own' us. Your words are mere sophistry," he said dismissively as he slashed at the lion, who danced away from the strike on light feet.

"Your coveted _freedom_ is an illusion, Cepheus," Loke grunted as he brought his weapon around to meet the next strike. "Even if you were to sever our world from the mortal realm, we are all still subject to Seirei-o. Do you mean to tell me that you've enough power to take him on and win? Until you do, you will never be truly free."

 _That_ certainly struck a nerve, as the other spirit slashed wildly at him, his anger once again slipping his hold for a few moments, allowing Loke to land a painful strike on Cepheus' shoulder. With a curse, the king of Ethiopia jumped back out of the zone and glanced down at the sparkling wound, his brow furrowing with pain and rage.

 _That's the ticket,_ Loke thought. _Little by little. He who has the patience has the battle._

Not wanting to give him any time to think and regain his control Leo immediately went after him, lunging forward seemingly recklessly and deliberately leaving his guard open just slightly on his left side. He knew Cepheus would see the 'mistake' and try to take advantage – and that was just what he wanted. And indeed, he let himself be pulled into the act and went for Loke's left side – only to be shocked when the sword Leo was wielding struck him again – this time in his arm. More golden light spilled forth from the other man's body, and he hissed.

With an angered shout, he grabbed the chair he'd been sitting in earlier and threw it at his opponent with one arm, trying to break Loke's rhythm and give himself a chance to take control of the battle back from the copper-haired spirit.

It only partially worked, giving him no more than a few seconds of a breather, because Leo simply dodged the chair and ignored it as it crashed to the ground and kept pressing him.

"On top of that," Loke continued right on from where he'd left off, "Seirei-o is fond of Lucy and was well-pleased with the effect her joining had on the spirit world. If you _were_ to succeed here, you would only be facing his wrath once you were stuck back in our world. Have you really gone so mad as to think that he'd simply accept what you'd done and shrug it off?"

He'd struck another nerve, as Cepheus openly hesitated for several seconds. Then he seemed to remember himself, and he scowled.

"I already have a plan to deal with him," he replied snidely, bearing down on Loke with an overhand strike that actually managed to land, and warm golden light sparkled off the lion's left shoulder. He barely noticed, however, too much adrenaline pumping through his body for him to feel much of anything.

He laughed incredulously at the other man as he blocked the next strike and then slashed out again. "You have a plan to _deal_ with Seirei-o? Oh, Cepheus, you really _have_ gone insane, haven't you? One doesn't _deal_ with Seirei-o. None of us have that kind of power – not even all of us together."

Loke wasn't prepared for what happened next; with no warning whatsoever, the king shouted, "Alderamin: Will of the King – Binding!" and a circle opened beneath his feet as Cepheus poured out his power as his great rage once again momentarily slipped its leash.

He barely escaped the binding magic by the skin of his teeth, managing to resist just long enough to use his own counter.

"Regulus: Shards of Light!" he shouted as he rolled out of the way of the other man's blow and threw his own, punching the floor with a light-wrapped fist. Beams of hot golden light shot out of the floor in several different directions, and though Cepheus managed to evade the first one, he chose the wrong direction to jump and landed right where another one appeared. He was knocked back quite a ways, only coming to a halt when he slammed into one of the walls and then slid to the ground.

The lion needed the moments that move gave him, the king's magic having gotten just enough of a hold on him to slow his movements and make him sluggish.

He lifted his head, panting for breath and fighting to regain control of himself. But every hair on his body lifted as Cepheus began to laugh. The man didn't try to stand up or attack him again, he just laughed and laughed, in that moment truly sounding like the madman Leo had named him.

Loke watched him through narrowed eyes as he drew in as much air as he could. "What's... so damned funny?" he managed to get out through heavy pants.

Cepheus continued to chuckle, seemingly truly amused by _something,_ and the lion couldn't help but feel even more cautious and suspicious.

"You've betrayed the spirit world, Leo, by giving your heart to a human, so you deserve every bit of what I'm about to do to you."

"Wha-" Loke began, only to be cut off as white-hot pain erupted down his back, and he spun as Lucy, her eyes still blank but whispering something unintelligible under her breath, slashed at him again with a long knife.

 _Where the hell did she even get that?_ he wondered numbly, his mind dulled with the shock of her attack. He flashed a quick glance behind him at Cepheus, his new wound bleeding more golden light, only to see his enemy grinning almost diabolically back – while his mouth was moving silently in time with Lucy's.

 _So he's using that damn voice magic of his again... fuck! What the hell am I going to do? I can't... I can't fight her! I..._

"Lucy!" he shouted, "wake up! Kick him out of your head, don't let him use you like this!" _Please... don't do this. Fight him... please. Damn it all to hell... this is just like that damned Marionette!_

 _What do I do now?_

Unable to get through to her at that moment Loke was forced to block her; as he refused to actually attack that was all he could do. Lucy showed no such hesitation, going after him immediately, and with force.

It was a good thing that she was not used to such combat. It showed in her attacks and movements. If he had been willing to land a blow he could have already defeated her several times over with the openings she left him.

But the lion wasn't about to fall to such uncoordinated and simplistic attacks. Her movements left him time – time to consider what he needed to do to stop Cepheus' heinous mind-control of his beloved.

 _If I can maneuver her around closer to him, I can turn this little trick around on him, and use him as a shield against his own attacks. If I surprise him enough, she might be able to land a blow on him, shattering his concentration enough for me to get a chance to use my power against him. That would be enough to break his control over her..._

… _I hope._

With nothing else coming to mind at that point, Loke put his idea into play, knowing that he was going to have to do it slowly enough so that he could get in range of Cepheus without him noticing. That wasn't going to be easy – and it would probably take some amount of time. He couldn't rush it, or the other spirit would realize what he was doing.

This was going to be a _very_ slow dance...

Setting himself to be patient even as he choreographed the whole thing in his head, move for move, Loke also knew he'd have to continue trying to vocally puncture holes in the other man's ideas, because if he stopped talking now, he knew Cepheus would get suspicious. And meanwhile, each attack by Lucy he was forced to block, each hit he had to avoid without being hit in turn himself was just another spark of anger at Ethiopia's king. At this rate, the man was building a bonfire atop Leo's protectiveness and love for his mistress, and the lion was almost afraid of what kind of explosion he was inviting with his reckless plans.

"So, if you have something you think is going to work against Seirei-o, why haven't you already used it? I mean, that should have been the _first_ thing you took care of if you expected this little fiasco of yours to actually work, right? Looks to me as if you're going at this backward," Leo grunted as metal clashed against metal in an endless-seeming barrage. What Lucy lacked in skill, Cepheus was making up for in sheer ferocity.

But that would also tire her out fairly quickly, as well – which meant that whatever the bastard was planning would have to happen relatively soon. In fact, Loke was pretty sure the only reason Cepheus was even dragging it on this long was to make him suffer for refusing to join him in his little plans. As the leader of the Zodiac and strongest of the spirits next to Seirei-o, he would have been a powerful ally to have – though his earlier words to the other man still held true. Even with all of the spirits together, they weren't strong enough to take the spirit king down.

There was a _reason_ he was the spirit _king_ , and that would be it.

"Bah," Cepheus snorted, seemingly brushing off Loke's words carelessly. "I do not fear that bastard. Do not concern yourself with my fate, Leo; you should be far more concerned with your own. If you are not with me then you are against me, and I have no qualms with taking very... _permanent_ actions to remove you from my path."

But the lion had caught that slight instant of hesitation, that spark of worry that he couldn't quite hide behind his insouciant attitude.

A short exchange of blows with Lucy as he danced lightly on graceful feet, moving just a tad bit closer to Cepheus, and then, "Permanent actions...?" he questioned. _Keep him talking..._

"Come now, do not pretend you are stupid," the dark-haired spirit purred. "While we spirits are normally immortal and cannot be readily killed, there _are_ a few ways to do so. After all, you were already exposed to one such method by Seirei-o himself, weren't you?" he continued snidely as he climbed back to his feet, though he did not move any further away. "And there are a few more. Become too much more of an obstacle and I won't hold back – I will gladly use one of said methods. Death is _quite_ permanent, don't you think?"

Loke almost rolled his eyes even as he rolled smoothly away from another series of attacks from his ensorcelled lady. "Oh, so you're just planning to start a war in our world, then. I see. Take out any and all dissenters to your ideals before they can stop you? Why, Cepheus – I had no idea you had such imperial ambitions as to rule our world in Seirei-o's place."

"Omnia Licet and all that, my good fellow. You should remember that phrase."

"Everything is permitted? Really? That phrase doesn't really apply unless you actually hold true to its tenet, Cepheus. And since only what _you_ allow would be permitted, you've kind of just killed your own argument," Loke wasted no time in shooting back.

At that, the other man actually blinked, as though he hadn't really thought about that. Then he just shrugged, and said, "Semantics. I've no interest in wasting my time with them," that superior manner of his only increasing. "The ends justify the means, that's all the _argument_ I care for."

But Loke was finally right where he'd planned to be – standing in front of Cepheus. Now was the time to strike; waiting until the very last fraction of a second, he dodged Lucy and she went right past him, unable to stop her forward motion so suddenly. _Perfect!_ He continued his last movement through to the end, as he once more punched the floor and called to his power.

And suddenly, everything went wrong once again, as instead of the warm burn of his own magic opening beneath him, he felt the bite of Cepheus' power take hold of him instead. Frantic, he tried to dodge at least some of the spell as he had before, but there simply wasn't enough time, and within fractions of a second he found himself bound by his enemy's 'Will of the King' for the second time in this battle.

Cursing inwardly, Loke scowled; he would be able to overpower Cepheus' control fairly quickly, and though that sounded like a good thing, the lion was well aware that it was a mixed bag. The only reason he'd be able to get out of it so fast was because the other spirit had only used just enough power for exactly that end – the rest of his power was being directed somewhere else, and suddenly, there just wasn't enough time.

Enough time for _anything –_ even for him to breathe.

 _Fuck! It was all a trap, all of it, from the very beginning! This was exactly what he wanted!_

Desperately,Loke fought harder against the binding, panic flooding his mind and body...

Just as Cepheus power opened a circle beneath Lucy's feet, he managed to break through enough to throw himself into the young woman whose eyes were just beginning to clear...

… but it wasn't enough to knock them out of the way, and now _both_ of them were caught in the vengeful spirit's spell.

~~ **LoLu** ~~

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay - life happens, and all that. I won't bore anyone with giving reasons that have been heard many times from many other authors, but at least I finally managed to get through the block I was having on this chapter to finish it out. Hopefully, I won't run into the same problem with this next chapter. I pray that everyone is entertained by it, and I thank you all most deeply for your continuing interest in this story.

Amber


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Light literally exploded from the now trapped pair of celestial spirits, blasting Cepheus into a wall and pinning him there as he raised a protective arm before him and attempted to see into that light. Unable to make anything out against the blinding glare, he tried to gather what little of his own power remained after being used to fuel the spell in the first place, now afraid. This was... this was very bad, and he needed to figure out how to stop what was happening fast. He hadn't considered such a possibility as this in his planning, it simply hadn't even _occurred_ to him that this could all go so wrong, and so quickly, too.

The storm of power from the two locked inside the light grew ever greater. It pulsed almost hungrily and reached for him, and _that_ was when Cepheus realized that if he didn't manage to escape the vicinity almost immediately, he wasn't going to survive whatever was happening now within the glowing maelstrom. It was too _late_ to stop it – and maybe it always had been.

He glanced back at the man still hanging on his wall by chains, not wanting to let go of his prey, but then a freshening surge of magic pounded against him and he cursed, before throwing all that remained of his power into a charge towards the door and hopefully, safety. It barely availed, but just as he was beginning to despair the resistance gave, and he flashed across the room in the blink of an eye. His pace and the power pushing at his back caused him to stumble against the door, but that didn't even faze him, and he yanked it open and then ran towards the stairs almost on autopilot.

 _Now what?_

Even if he survived this, he likely wouldn't whatever Seirei-o was going to do to him for the damage he'd caused. And while he'd been deliberately offhand about the spirit king earlier when Leo had brought him up, he'd really known better all along. His only 'plan' to deal with the fallout of his actions had been to bring up everything that had happened to every one of the spirits at the hands of humans once he stood under all their eyes for judgment - and basically attempt to shame the king into backing down after a bit of blustering.

That probably wouldn't work now. Hell, he could admit to himself - in his sudden, heart-stopping return to sanity's shores - that it never would have. He'd been a blind, enraged fool, and now it looked like payment had come due for his transgressions.

 _Well, at least Cas will be avenged, and safe from Seirei-o's anger. I made sure of that – she has no idea of what I've been up to._

His mind finally snapped back into sanity once again due to the storm battering away at him, he felt ashamed of himself. A sad smile touched his lips for a moment. No amusement lay behind it, only painful recognition of his foolishness when he thought of just how angry she would be with him. Stars, when she learned of his madness after what had happened to her – and what he'd done while in it – she'd look at him with wounded eyes, and not say a word to him in reproach.

Oh, but it would be there in that expressive gaze of hers, damning him without any words even being necessary.

It had truly been a dark place for him, thoughts of vengeance being the only thing he cared for. But he could now see quite clearly that he had known perfectly well all along what he was inviting, and yet consciously allowed himself to fall into it, anyway. He had let hatred darken his light deliberately.

He'd wanted nothing more than to hurt the man who'd done all that to her, and slowly, as he'd slid into the depths of despair and loathing and rage, he had.

That could have been understood by anyone with any kind of compassion or empathy.

But then he'd gone several steps too far, and started blaming anyone human. It had been an injustice to the race as a whole, and Cas had always been a little too kindhearted to ever agree with the things he'd done, ostensibly _for_ her or not. That little fact would have only made her feel guilty, as though it were her fault that he'd gone off his rocker like he most definitely had.

And only now, when it was too late, could he see it.

 _Oh, Cas..._

Remorse surged, making him feel even guiltier.

While he would never feel so for what he'd done to her attacker, the rest of it... yes, he deserved whatever fate was about to find him. His feet slowed and he came to a stop. What had he been _thinking?!_ Leo and that poor girl back there hadn't deserved anything of what he'd done. He felt sick as he thought of it... he'd become, in his own way, no better than the bastard that had so harmed his wife. He winced as what he'd allowed himself to do paraded through his mind with fingers pointed accusingly.

And now it was time to face the music.

He slowly turned around, and stared almost numbly at the raging power that was eating away at everything, coming right up through the solid stone floors as though there were nothing in its way. Flashes of lightning, bright darkness, and roiling energy flickered and whipped around a central red core, the wind conjured by the power almost strong enough now on its own to pull him into the spell, too.

Just as he'd prepared himself to be torn apart by the swirling nightmare, a savage burst of energy struck him in the chest instead, knocking him backwards through several walls and snuffing his consciousness.

 _I'm sorry, Cas. I love you... I'm so sorry._

That mournful last thought followed him down into the abyss like the white burn of the sun on his eyelids, and then he knew no more.

~~LoLu~~

Loke never even had a chance to scream, the agony of the power engulfing him rendering him silent in shock, his voice gone with the hot blue/white fire burning through his mind and body. He vaguely heard Cepheus shout an infuriated "No!" - and then everything but the paralyzing pain vanished.

Except Lucy.

She _did_ let out a scream, but then she too fell silent. There were just some pains that were so devastating that they ripped your voice, your mind, even your very identity from you, especially if they lasted too long.

This pain was one of them, and so both writhed in the magic like damned souls in the flames of hell.

He could feel the spell searching him, looking for any hint of humanity, but since there was none to grasp, it just continued battering at him, unable to fulfill its purpose.

But Lucy was a different story, and she could quite distinctly feel the agony of something trying to tear her in two. It was nothing but a fact that she'd only just become a spirit, but already it was interwoven with her base human genetics so much, that it was literally like being ripped in half. And so she writhed, helplessly caught in Cepheus' revenge.

She hadn't realized that Loke himself was also caught up in the magic, her senses nearly gone – until she felt a hand brush against her arm. Even then, with the pain so overwhelming, she wouldn't have been able to respond... but then she heard Loke's voice, a rough, hoarse sound of pain, and the horror that he was also stuck in this with her gave her just enough strength to push her own agony back a bit. Love was, after all, the one true power, as she'd said before.

 _I have to wake up,_ she thought distantly through the pain. She could feel panic rising inside her, and that was helping to push the pain away a little more. It wasn't enough, though. _I can't let him hurt Loke... come on,_ she exhorted herself, _wake up! Push him away, do something before it's too late for both of us!_

Really panicking now, she tried to force Cepheus' power away again, but it did little good - the other spirit was determined to rend her back into her strictly human form, it seemed. For her, she already knew that it was a death sentence, and though she was afraid of what was to come, she could accept it, if her death would save her lion. The problem was that Loke had never been human, and there was no telling what his presence in the spell with her would lead to.

 _Could_ she even save him?

She threw her head back and cried out with the agony of the two sides of her, the human and the spirit, being slowly torn apart.

 _But what can I do?_ She could barely think through the power tearing through her mind and body, and she was growing weaker every second.

 _So you're just going to give up? Hmph... figures. You always were a weak-willed little bitch,_ came Aquarius' snarky, sarcastic voice from her memories, and Lucy screamed as a bit of anger at that charge scraped through the pain in her mind, and gave her a determination to prove the accusation wrong. The other spirit wouldn't be allowed to mock her this time. She gritted her teeth. _No! I can't give up on saving him. I have to do something, but what? I don't even know what this magic is, let alone how to stop it!_

Nonetheless, Lucy grasped desperately at her own power and tried to punch holes in the deadly energy, and when that didn't work, she tried forcing her magic to surround Cepheus' power – maybe she could contain it and then drain the power from the spell in a way that wouldn't hurt Loke.

But her efforts were doomed to failure, for nothing seemed to work, and in the meantime she was growing weaker as that foreign energy sought to destroy her, and the man she loved.

 _No... Loke,_ she thought mournfully. _I've failed you and everyone else..._

Panic started chipping away at her willpower. Even though technically she was stronger than Cepheus, this spell she was caught in was keeping her immobilized and unable to think clearly, to find a way out, at least for her lion.

As her power was sucked away from her at an accelerating rate, she despaired further. _I'm nothing but a failure, no matter which realm I'm in,_ she realized bitterly. _We're both going to die because I'm such a failure. I should have destroyed our contract a long time ago, let him find an owner that was actually worth something._ Her bitterness and the sheer agony she was in was getting the best of her, and she cried out once more as the spell sharpened, attacking her and Loke both with an almost hungry rush. Lucy slipped a little more, as further power exploded into the magic circle, drained from Loke, and a pained shout escaped him as he folded over and slid to his knees.

Lucy reached desperately for him, only for her hands to go right through him. She was fading fast, so whatever she was going to do would have to be done quickly.

That still didn't give her the answer she needed, and she grabbed her head as many voices rang through her memories – people she'd known and saved at one point or another. And yet she couldn't seem to do the same for Loke, the man she loved more than any other. He was going to go down with her, and she was too pitiful to stop it.

" _You have forgotten who you are. You are not Lucy Heartfilia, human, any longer. You are Eridanae, the river of the celestial realm."_

That voice that she had noticed first after the Joining spoke, and she dazedly recognized it as the other half of her.

" _But... Cepheus... I can't fight him! He's taken everything, my power along with my will! How am I supposed to fight this when I don't even know what it is? This magic is nothing like anything I've ever encountered before!"_

" _He can only take what is given,"_ the voice said sternly, and a little enigmatically inside her mind, even as she writhed in pain inside the circle of the other spirit's conjuring. _"You are stronger than he is – you must only find that strength. If you give in, Leo will be destroyed. Is this what you wish?"_

Lucy froze. _No!_

" _Then what does that tell you? Leo_ _will_ _fall because of his affection for us. Cepheus has used us against him, and he will not strike us down, not even to save himself._ _If we do not fight the King of Ethiopia and take back our mind and body,_ _love_ _will doom us all."_

She could accept oblivion for herself, though not happily, of course. But she would never accept it for Loke. For him, she would fight into eternity and beyond. _Doom us? No... love makes us stronger, it gives us a reason to keep fighting when we have nothing left. I... I won't accept this, for Loke's sake, and for all the other spirits and Fairy Tail. I won't go down without saving everyone first!_

Despite the burning pain of Cepheus' spell trying to drag her under, Lucy forced herself to focus through it, bringing her own power to bear against that which wished to destroy them all. It was a hungry magic, and so she fed it, let all her pain and sorrow out to join with that which wished to destroy her and Loke. It took every effort, her mind burning and her body feeling like she were indeed caught in a fire, but she refused to give in.

She would die here, there was no doubt in her mind anymore, no hope for her own salvation. But Loke wouldn't, and she would stop Cepheus' heinous actions before she went. She couldn't leave him behind to wreak his havoc on the world. While she empathized with him and his wife and what they'd gone through, what he was doing wasn't right, and she would give everything she had to save her loved ones from the deranged spirit.

Her eyes opened then, glowing a searing blue as she fought through the storm, forcing her mind to stay alert despite the agony trying to drag her under. And as she did, she suddenly knew what she had to do.

She looked at her lion, bent double as he fought the pain, and her eyes softened with love and sadness. Now she would never know if they could have made it work, never know what it was like to be held by him. It was a steep price to pay, but she would pay it a million times over to keep him safe.

A single tear rolled down a pale cheek. "I love you," she whispered despondently through the maelstrom, regret and sadness flooding her for all the lost opportunities that they'd had to come together – though she knew it was really her own fault for constantly pushing him away. If she'd known how short her life was going to be, she'd have taken the chance with her lion and loved him with everything she had. That couldn't happen now, but she could save him if she really tried, and she was determined to do just that.

She straightened and pushed back against the dark power surrounding her with a now unbreakable will, both sides of her in agreement.

It was time to stop crying like a baby over the pain and do what it was in her to do.

She could let go and slide into darkness – _death –_ later... once he and everyone else was safe.

~~LoLu~~

In the spirit world, the first tremors of awareness that something had gone very wrong were barely noticeable, and most of the spirits just brushed the odd feeling off to begin with . But as the pull grew stronger and two very distinct constellations began to _glow,_ they began to really sit up and focus.

Within moments the feel changed to a draining one, as power – a great deal of power – began to be sucked away from the realm.

And then Seirei-o appeared in the meeting hall of spirits, his visage grim and angry as he called out to all the spirits to join him in the Great Celestial Hall.

Someone had done something that they shouldn't have, and he was going to find out who.

The hall was crowded and noisy within a very few minutes – but there were a few notable absences. Seirei-o didn't need answers about two of those missing faces, because where _they_ were was hair-raisingly obvious. But the other ones... well, he had no illusions, and the ones missing – Corvus and Chameleon, and Cepheus...

Trouble, all of them.

The king sighed. It just figured that _he_ was involved somehow. Cepheus had always been a little... stand-offish towards him. It was jealousy, of course, plain and simple. He was a king in his own right, and found it demeaning that he would be forced to kneel for anyone at all. But he had no choice, because power spoke for all, and no one was more powerful than he.

Even all together, the seirei weren't quite strong enough to defeat him... although, he considered dryly, it was just possible that there were now two spirits that together _could_ challenge him. Leo and Eridanus, the very two who were now caught in some damned powerful spell that was trying to return the river to her previous human state. He could feel the magic draining from the celestial realm, and knew there was nothing for it – he would have to intervene this time and put a stop to what was happening before it got too far.

"You can all feel for yourselves what's going on," he finally spoke, his voice gigantic and deadly. "I will return once this matter has been resolved. In the meantime, all spirits are to stay here."

Without another word after that command Seirei-o faded away. The hall fell silent behind him as all the spirits shuddered with the cold feeling that crept over their skin, brushing icy, deadly fingers up their spines and skittering chills to every nerve-ending.

"What in heaven's name is happening?" someone's voice broke the silence, and everyone turned to look at the person who'd spoken. There were a few that opened their mouths to try to answer, and then found nothing to say, for what did they know? Only as much as everyone else staring helplessly around... which was to say, a great deal of nothing at all.

Cassiopeia blinked worried eyes at the lack of answers to her question, before looking back towards the dais where Seirei-o had stood with an odd shiver of premonition brushing against every bit of her body.

"Oh, Cepheus, my love... where are you?" she whispered, one elegant hand coming up to clutch at her own throat.

She didn't even notice the worried gaze of her daughter Andromeda, who moved as her mother did, and was about to offer her hand when she continued...

"What have you done?"

Andromeda stared at her mother, aghast at what she'd just said.

"Mother?"

It was clear that her daughter wanted answers... but Cassiopeia had no desire to answer them – her assault was still too new, too close, and she was nervous now when anyone got too near. Her feelings of safety from such an attack had been violated as much as she had, and she didn't know if she'd ever feel safe again.

She had been peripherally aware that her husband was nowhere to be found, but it hadn't really impacted her at that point. She had needed that space from him and everyone else – hell, to be truthful, she still did... and she wasn't sure she'd ever feel comfortable with a lot of beings around her again.

Like now, with the denizens of the spirit world surrounding her.

Her throat closed up as she tried to answer Andromeda, her breathing going rapid and almost hysterical as she tried to draw enough air to speak. She failed, and all she was able to give her daughter as answer was a wide-eyed, terrified appeal.

 _'Don't make me speak of it... please don't make me go through it again...'_

The younger woman stared at her mother and fearfully wondered just what was going on. Because something terrible certainly was...

And it appeared that Cassiopeia held answers to at least some of it, but she was unwilling to speak. As haunted as it had made her mother feel, maybe trying to get answers out of her right now was a bad idea.

For the moment she – and everyone else – would have to wait for answers. Her mother's state was much too fragile currently, and Andromeda, never having seen her like this, was worried sick. Since her mother's well-being was first and foremost in her eyes, she wouldn't force it. She couldn't hurt her mother that way, and to hell with everyone else.

With a decisive expression, she stepped between her mother and all the others crowding around.

Scorpio stepped forward with a challenging light in his eyes, unwilling to drop the topic. "I say she needs to talk. All of our power is being sucked away, weakening all of us, and the one with the answers refuses to divulge them? No. This is not right. So I will say it again – she needs to talk. Whatever situation she is caught in is now dragging us down, too. That gives us every right to _demand_ answers."

Andromeda stood to her full height and studied him with a narrowed expression. Then she said, "I will fight off anyone who attempts to come near," as a perfect sapphire globe of pure power sparked into existence between her cupped hands. "If you wish for answers, then you can get them when Seirei-o returns. Until then, you'll back away and leave us some space," she ordered, raising her aura enough to push some of the more stubborn spirits back.

Cassiopeia watched her daughter defend her so staunchly, and wept silently as she continued to huddle as far away from anyone else. She was a weak, broken woman, and she no longer knew who to trust anymore.

Except for her husband. She trusted him, but she also knew him. She knew how livid he'd been when she'd fearfully explained to him what had happened to her. He'd been angrier than she'd ever seen him, actually. After storming around the main receiving room of their palace, he'd suddenly came to a complete halt and looked struck, for a moment. Then he'd turned to her and become so solicitous, worrying for her and trying to do anything that he could think of to focus her mind on other things so she could forget her pain. But after the first week something changed in him, and he began disappearing for longer and longer periods of time.

 _'Oh Cepheus, truly... what have you done?'_

~~LoLu~~


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **~~LoLu~~**

Lucy was nearly vibrating with the speed of the power that was tearing through her. In her last act as a living being and as a spirit, she opened herself fully to the raging magic, finally having realized that she _couldn't_ contain something of the magnitude of what Cepheus had summoned. The only one that had a chance of that was the spirit king, and he wasn't exactly there at the moment.

No... she couldn't contain it, but she _could_ guide and re _direct_ it – and that was exactly what she was going to do. If she could hold on just long enough, direct most of the cacophony of power back into the spirit world, Seirei-o could safely finish what she'd started, and then she could let herself fade away.

But not until then. _Not until then_.

Having done just about all she could do to stop what was happening within a very short eternity, the young celestial spirit faded away a little more every second, her form disappearing into the blinding light surrounding her. As she did, her mind, in shock from the trauma it was enduring, began to go into a hazy state where everything seemed far, far away and she, numb to all the physical and emotional pain she was going through.

She knew it was almost over at that point. She couldn't really hear the roar of the magic anymore, instead, it was as if she was hearing music. Pretty but sad notes seemed to echo in her ears against a white static background. Her eyes widened a little with wonder as what to her looked like crystal clear drops of water floated unmoving in the air in front of her face, and Lucy, now feeling like she was being drawn slowly through a dark tunnel with brilliant light at its end, watched that light flash through the drops like it would have through the most flawless of diamonds. It was beautiful, and she tried to touch it, but there was almost nothing of her left by that point – she was little more than a dark outline against a blazing light – and so her fingers simply went through it without affecting it.

In that moment one last thought rushed through her mind as eternity and the spirit world went silent. Her vision began to go dark, but her gently murmured words were filled with satisfaction and pain at the same time. She'd done it, changed the course of the flood, though it had taken everything she had, and now it was time to go. Just as her mind finally shut down and she dissipated into the last flickers of the flow, she smiled.

"My friends are safe... _Loke_ is safe. I did it, and now I can let go. My fight is over."

The instant the remains of the barn went still and dark after its brush with chaos, Seirei-o burst into sight in the midst of the mess, huge and stern as he stood to his full height in the ruins, brushing aside pieces of stone and splintered wood as he did so.

The last bits of power still in the area were easy enough for him to reach out and guide through his own gate back into the spirit realm, and his mustaches bristled with the potency and sheer amount of energy that had been sent into the heavens. There was more now than when this had started, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it still needed calmed before his world would be safe from any consequences of the sheer magnitude of what had already occurred. He glanced around one more time with a frown and a curious light in his eyes before flashing out of sight – but not before he caught the three miscreants that had caused this whole thing laid out unconscious in scattered glory, and reached out and grabbed them, taking them with him back into the spirit world.

Loke was already returned to his home, probably unconscious as well from the trauma, and of Lucy there was not even a particle left to see. With the king's disappearance, the wind became the only sound remaining in the blasted building, and it moaned with an eerie voice as it breached new areas that had never before been in its path.

Of the original perpetrator of this whole entire mess, the man that had attacked Cassiopeia in the first place and had been hanging on a wall in chains because of it? Of him, there was nothing left but thin spools of dry, gritty dust that slowly whirled around and then vanished forever - as to ashes and dust yet another human returned.

And the world went on...

 **~~LoLu~~**

In the Hall of Spirits there was a strained silence as Andromeda faced off against the rest of the spirits with head held high and eyes narrowed dangerously. Her power was shimmering with a deadly light as what almost looked like a galaxy spiraled in the air between her hands, and it was a knife's edge they all stood on in that second as several of the other spirits seriously contemplated taking up her challenge.

Aquarius looked more angry than anyone had ever seen; no one was surprised when she was the one to speak up first and move towards the other spirit, her power already singing and high in her veins. She was _furious,_ but no one knew why she seemed filled with such deadly wrath. Sure, she was a snappy bitch to most everyone, and they all knew it and pretty much ignored it, but this... she looked ready to kill.

"I don't know what that sorry little bastard you call a 'father' has done, or how your 'mother' there is involved, but if I don't find out right now why they've hurt Lucy, I'm going to drown your fancy-ass palace _and_ Ethiopia entirely, and make sure it _stays_ underwater for the next billion years or so!"

Now that _was_ a surprise to most of the spirits in the Hall; didn't Aquarius despise her former human owner? Why would she be so furious on her behalf?

Her boyfriend Scorpio, however, just smiled a little. He wasn't the least surprised at his girl's fury. Because no matter what she said or how she acted, the fact of the matter was that she could be oddly protective of Lucy Heartfilia. The truth was that she _did_ care for her former mistress, even though she'd never ever actually admit to that, probably not even under threat of torture.

However, he also had some questions he wanted answers to, and he refused to let the matter drop. Especially as the pull of power being stripped from them and the realm grew greater, affecting all the spirits to greater or lesser degrees. If they didn't get answers soon, they may never get them – and some of the weaker spirits might fade away entirely if it wasn't stopped in time.

So he faced Andromeda and Cassiopeia at Aquarius' side. "I'll ta-"

He was interrupted as the entire spirit world shuddered, then almost seemed to stagger sideways, and the power that was drained in that moment dropped several of the spirits immediately, while the rest once again fought off varying side effects. Grasping his head, Scorpio pushed through a wave of dizziness as the world went fuzzy around him. But before anyone was able to recover enough to escalate the encounter any further, everything just... stopped.

A few seconds later something no one had expected happened; the flow _reversed,_ and a flood of almost unbearable energy burst back into the spirit world. It caught them all off their guard and sent most of the ones still on their feet – so to speak – to their knees as they tried to cope with the fire now spreading through their entire beings.

Suddenly, Seirei-o reappeared in the Hall of Spirits, and immediately, a prison of glowing crystals surrounded the three spirits he'd grabbed from the mortal realm and dropped on the floor the moment he was visible. His vast displeasure could be clearly felt by every spirit in the room, and everyone there knew that the shit was about to hit the fan.

Folding his arms across his chest with a glower, Seirei-o studied all those gathered in the great hall.

"Cassiopeia, come forward, the same for you, Andromeda. It is time to speak, and tell me all you know about what Cepheus' and his two cronies have been up to."

Now trembling uncontrollably, Cas was unable to make herself move closer – she didn't want him or anyone else any nearer. Nor did she even have any idea what her husband had done, anyway. All she knew was that it had to do with her persecutor, and even that had been a guess.

"Your majesty," Andromeda answered, "We know nothing about what my father has done. He hasn't been here as much, but we didn't really think anything of it until everything went haywire."

It was silent for a moment as Seirei-o studied the beautiful woman with narrowed, thoughtful eyes... and then asked, "If that is so, why does Cassiopeia look as though she were about to sick?" He glanced back down at the three miscreants, and shook his head. "It seems to me that she was more involved in the matter than you or she is willing to admit. Therefor-"

A loud scrabbling sound came just then from the center of the room, and everyone turned their gazes that way as Cepheus rushed to his feet with a guilty, pained expression. "Your majesty," he began, in the politest tone he'd ever used towards the king, "Neither Cassiopeia nor Andromeda were involved in what I was doing, I swear it on my heart-star."

"So you've awakened from what your foolish behavior caused, have you?" the king bellowed. "Then you will be the one to explain this situation to me."

Acting like a completely different person than he had been, he surprised Seirei-o by bowing humbly and not even using his normal tone of ill-tempered impatience. This made the king very curious, so when Cepheus said, "I will tell you everything I've done over these last years, answer any question you have. But there is much more at stake here than just me-" he flashed a glance back at his wife, and then turned back and squared his shoulders, "so I beg most humbly that you allow me to speak only to you, in private."

Very curious about what had been going on, and how Lucy and Leo ended up where they'd been, the king pondered for a second, and then nodded. Neither of those two had gone through that willingly, so they'd been drawn there with a specific reason in mind.

"Very well," he finally decided. A multi-colored light surrounded the king and his prisoners, blocking them away from the others, leaving those in the rest of the hall in confusion. A babble of voices broke out once they were hidden from view, most calling for Cassiopeia to answer for whatever her husband had done, but she remained tight-lipped with refusal.

The most unexpected thing of all cast the great hall into a chattering mess, as timid little Aries stepped up beside Andromeda.

"I w-won't let you bother her," she said almost defiantly. "Can't you s-see that she's upset enough?" And then she cringed, turning red and timid once more. "S-sorry!"

"Well, lookit that, Scorpio. The gutless lamb has found a backbone! Isn't it _amazing_?" Aquarius harrumphed beneath her breath and then folded her arms across her quite visible bosom. "Too bad she didn't find a brain to go with it." A glare shot Aries' way, and she finished with, "Go back to making soft pillows, booties, and scarves for your owner. At least you're _useful_ there."

Scorpio paused what he was about to say at that, and looked over at his girlfriend. "Oi, don't pick on Aries, woman. It's not right."

He didn't say it harshly, just fondly and with a soft smile directed at the still trembling Aries.

During this whole time, Cassiopeia had been trying to hold in her panic, and was now trembling just as badly as the Ram spirit was.

Capricorn, who'd so-far just been listening silently, studied the two female spirits, and his frown deepened.

Stepping forward in that aloof but kind manner of his, he joined Aries and Andromeda.

After a few seemingly endless moments, he shook his head and looked straight at Scorpio. "Whatever was happening before, it no longer is. I do not sense any negative energy anywhere in the spirit world any longer. It appears that we are out of danger, at least for the moment. Therefore, I do believe that Andromeda and Aries are correct – we should leave Cassiopeia alone for now and await Seirei-o's judgment in this matter."

That sort of yanked the rug out from underneath Scorpio and Aquarius, and both scowled at the elegantly-attired sea-goat. Scorpio opened his mouth to reply – and then was cut off as the prisoners were returned rather abruptly to the hall, along with the king. He seemed to be in a better mood – or, at least, not in a _bad_ one anymore. His face was still serious, just no longer furious.

That was a definite improvement.

Everyone stilled as his eyes swept the room. "I have determined that there were... extenuating circumstances surrounding what has occurred." He made a brief gesture, and the glowing crystal bars that kept the three away from their comrades disappeared. "You all may retu-"

And then it was his turn to be cut short as a glowing and lethal lion burst into the hall with an angry roar.

"Where is that bastard! Cepheus, I know you're in here, face me! And you'd better pray to to all the gods you've ever heard of that I find Lucy alive and unharmed, or I'll feed you my claws and send you to the depths of hell!"

Seirei-o intervened. "Leo, you will stand down. I have already decided on Cepheus' and his co-conspirators fates."

A wild-eyed and feral Loke grinned toothily as he stared defiantly back at the king. "I don't care. If I don't get Lucy back – alive and well – I _will_ destroy him." He looked back at the guilty-looking Cepheus as he said it, expecting an answer – or maybe, if he was lucky, a challenge in return. Their earlier battle had him at a distinct disadvantage, since he would never willingly harm Lucy, and the devil was using her against him. But now there was nothing to stop him from shredding the other spirit, except for the king – and Loke had no intention of backing down. His Lucy had been targeted by that bastard, and Cepheus could never bleed enough to make up for it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Seirei-o. "Did you go to Eridanus to look for her?"

Loke gritted his teeth, inhaled deeply, and tried to become a bit more rational. It wasn't working too well; his mind had gone haywire the instant he registered the absence of Lucy from inside him, from that place where he'd been able to feel her since the moment Seirei-o had bound them. "Cepheus wasn't trying to send her to her constellation, he was trying to kill her," he growled deeply, "so, no, I haven't. What would be the point of that?"

The king folded his arms and frowned. "So you come seeking vengeance, believing that such a thing as what he summoned could permanently destroy a celestial spirit that is bound to its constellation? The only _true_ way to kill a spirit is to cut them off from their constellation and send them permanently forth into the mortal world. Which _you_ should know quite well," Seirei-o harrumphed a little, his glare sharpening. "Cepheus was as much a fool to believe that his machinations would kill our old friend. It will take some time for her to regenerate and reform herself, but she is _not_ permanently gone."

Loke froze at that, then blinked after a few seconds and his glowing fists flickered and then faded out as his power drew down. He tried to stop the tears from escaping his eyes; the relief that swept through him almost struck him speechless. "B-but then... why can't I feel her?"

Everyone in the hall fell totally silent, very interested in where this conversation was going. Some already knew that he was able to feel Lucy in such a way, but some did not, and _none_ of them knew why he had such a deep connection to the young woman.

That was _not_ a normal spirit/mage bond – ergo there was something _else_ at play here.

But what was it?

" _When the lion falls from the sky, the herald of a new day will save him,_

 _and return him to his true place above._

 _An earthly star ascending to the heavens, an incandescent soul of love,_

 _yet marred by wrongful vengeance._

 _Mortal once, now not, she will bring new strength and vitality to holy Celestia._

 _Oh Eridanus, river of Heaven but born of Earth, spill your power across the skies!_

 _Then fair river! Bring forth the little lion, a new spirit for a new age,_

 _born not of self, but of love between the river and the lion."_

The words were sonorous, almost chanted by Seirei-o, and they were quite clear. Loke flushed a bit at the final stanzas.

"W-what?" he stammered, his flush deepening as Aquarius scowled and then turned her nose up, her ubiquitous scoff sounding loud in the silent hall as everyone there considered what Seirei-o had just given away.

"That is the prophecy in full. The reason you have such a bond with her is simple, Leo – it is because you love her, and that love transcends any normal bond that you would have with anyone else. It is also that which binds her to you. This was foretold long ago, so long ago that even I had forgotten it, and only now am I remembering it." Seirei-o shook his head slowly, a soft, musing sort of smile touching his lips. "She is a special woman, Leo – no spirit has been so blessed with one such as her before. All of us who know her hold affection for her-" he snickered a little at Aquarius' rather harsh scoff, but did not say anything about it, finishing with, "-but the love you carry for her transcends everything else."

Loke, the rage that had filled him with deadly intent fading away now that he was assured of Lucy's survival, ran the words Seirei-o had just quoted through his mind once more, and his flush deepened as he came to the final stanzas of the prophecy again. A goofy, though rather tentative smile, spread across his face as the words truly registered.

"So... that seems to be saying that... that she feels the same, that she... returns my feelings. Am I to be so lucky? After everything I've done, all the stupid, messed up things, and yet, she loves me in return?" He shook his head as his past ran through his mind, and the smile fell, leaving him looking guilty and sad. "She can't possibly love me... I _don't_ deserve her. I really don't."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the king answered, now looking serious. "But all that matters in this instance is that she loves you, deserving or not. Would you turn her away were she to come to you?"

Loke's eyes widened and he shook his head almost frantically. "No! I could never turn her away – I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her like that. Actually, I don't think I'm capable of denying her anything," he admitted ruefully as the rest of those in the Hall muttered amongst themselves – and Taurus moo'd in dismay, complaining loudly that it wasn't fair that Loke would win the beautiful blonde's heart. (And her even more beautiful body.)

After a few moments of that, Capricorn stepped forward. He met Leo's eyes with a sober gaze of his own. "If you are the one that Lucy-sama has chosen, then I have but one thing to say to you. Treat her well, and do not cheat on her. Your reputation with women leaves much to be desired, but if you treat her as you have all the others, then I will challenge you and make you pay for every bit of her pain."

Loke huffed a somewhat incredulous laugh and shot the goat a look as Aquarius and several others murmured their agreement with Capricorn's warning. "What makes you think I could even treat Lucy that way to begin with? I'd sooner die."

Seirei-o nodded. "That is good. Then I wish you and our old friend much happiness. Now," he continued as he looked at the rest of the spirits in the hall, "make your peace with Cepheus, for I will not have this situation causing anymore havoc for our world. It will take me some little time to calm and gentle all the excess power that Eridanae channeled back into our world. I will not go, only to return and find you dragging it out any further for vengeance' sake."

Loke paused for a moment, thinking over what had been said, and then glanced over at the still oddly subservient Cepheus, and sighed, suddenly feeling weary. He rubbed one arm with the other, slowly forcing himself to calm down and let his anger go, and then gave a rueful smile and tentative nod.

"I'll be mad for a long time for the pain he put her through. But I know there were extenuating circumstances," he agreed, glancing at the regretful face of the other spirit, "and besides... I know Lucy. She would immediately forgive him, and wouldn't want any kind of 'vengeance' for what he did to her. That isn't her way, and I would move heaven and earth to keep her happy always."

"Good. Then this meeting is dismissed. Cepheus, you and Andromeda should take Cassiopeia home to familiar surroundings. Leo, you will need to be there when Eridanae reforms and awakens. She will be disoriented and probably frightened, and will need someone close and familiar to help fill in the blanks and calm her."

But Seirei-o was only talking to air at that point, as Loke faded out immediately he started speaking, impatient now and needing confirmation that Lucy had indeed survived what had been done to her. He also needed to know that what had been said about his mistress' feelings towards him was also true – he loved her wholeheartedly, but he wasn't so certain that the depth of those feelings was fully returned. Yes, he knew Lucy loved him, like she loved all her spirits. But that her emotions towards him were the same as his for her? That, he wouldn't truly believe until it had come from her own lips.

~~ **LoLu** ~~

A/N: Wow... so, umm... I just realized last night that yesterday was the one year anniversary of this story. I actually had planned to post this newest chapter yesterday, but the meds really kicked my ass last night, and by the time I was finished beta-ing the chapter, I was stoned out of my head. At any rate, I hope everyone enjoys this latest addition to the tale, and I apologize for the delay in posting, not just on this story, but all of them.

I'm technically not supposed to be doing any writing on any of my stories, and I'll probably be in trouble once my actions are realized. The thing is, I suffer from terrible anxiety. I have General Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder. The last year has been a bad one, and my writing was quickly becoming yet another source of anxiety. I worried and fretted constantly over typos, mistakes, and that damned relentless writer's block, until I couldn't even look at my laptop without an anxiety attack. So I was sort of... grounded from writing on anything other than things that were required by my treatment for a while.

Nonetheless, here I am with this chapter for those who are enjoying it! Despite all the setbacks, I continue to soldier on, lol.

Amber


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

~~LoLu~~

The deep, dark, seemingly empty spaces of the universe sped by in the blink of an eye, its beauty unnoticed and even ignored by the sentient flash of light traveling through it. Loke had seen the universe in all its glory an uncountable number of times in his lifetime, and though usually he loved to explore and take in said universe with pride for its sheer, awesome allure, this time he had no care for it. _This_ time, he had a destination and purpose in mind, and nothing else could tempt him away from that destination – Eridanus, heaven's river. Constellations sped rapidly by, Caelum, Cetus, Fornax, Horologium, Hydra, Lepus, Orion. And there, Phoenix, Taurus and Tucana. They all registered at the back of his mind, but he did not have business with any of them. Only the river mattered, only Lucy was important. He did not wish to seem as though he were questioning Seirei-o, but his nerves were stretched tight; he still could not feel her, and a part of him, one that he tried to push aside, was wound up and terrified that the king _was_ wrong, that his sweet Lucy was really gone forever.

Finally the lion reached the section of the skies the river dominated, and he began to slow, dropping from the speed of light in his energy form, back into his physical form instead. Continuing to slow, Loke studied the region of deep space he was now in with a furrowed brow, the aforementioned worry creeping further into his being as he studied Eridanus with troubled eyes. The constellation seemed weaker, its usually formidable power and bright stars much duller than normal. However, it occurred to him that a constellation whose spirit had truly been destroyed would not just be weaker, but it would no longer even be a constellation, as most of the stars that powered it would actually be _gone_.

None of Lucy's stars had gone supernova, none had faded away. They still pulsed with power even though a bit weakened, and if one paid close enough attention, it would become quite clear that they were slowly regaining their usual strength.

Now still, hovering above the river and taking note of every one of Eridanus' stars, a little of his confidence returned at that knowledge. Now... all he had to do was find exactly where Lucy's spirit had gone when she vanished from Earthland, and join her there. He would assist and guide her, even feed her some of his energy if she needed it – he was willing to do pretty much anything to help his beloved mistress return to him, no matter how much it would weaken him.

Eyes narrowed and rigidly focused, Leo ran his eyes slowly from one end of the river to the other, slowing and studying the home she'd made for herself. Had it really only been a day or so since she'd done so? Since she'd become one of them, bound forever to the constellation of the heavenly river? _How time passes as one entity, but is viewed differently depending on where you are – or what you are. Human, spirit, demons from the pits of Hel... time seems to run differently for all of us. And if Lucy hadn't become a spirit, I would have lost her in less than a year for me, but an entire lifetime for her._

He shuddered absently, his eyes locked on to her home here in the skies, all such thoughts of time and loss being pushed aside as pointless at this particular moment. Her home appeared to be glowing just slightly, and his breath was pushed from his lungs in a deep sigh of relief – she was there. That was the only reason her abode would have such luminosity, such radiance. When a spirit was not in residence within the confines of their homes, they were dark and carried an eerie, almost dead feeling.

Lucy's home was anything but eerie or dead, meaning she was there, still healing and trying to regain her tangible form, but alive, and Loke's heart pounded and he sighed once more as he slowed his breathing. _Seirie-o was right, thank the heavens themselves. I don't know what I'd have done if she wasn't still alive._ Now, to go assist her. He lurched back into motion, his sheer relief making him a little clumsy, and shot straight towards the home he'd asked her to show him when they had the chance.

 _Damn. I didn't want to see it without her, but in the circumstances, it can't be helped. I'll just keep to where she is only, so that she still has most of the place to show me. Even if she was still kind of overwhelmed with her Joining and everything before, I know she was proud of her creation, and she would have been thrilled to show it off._

Loke slowed his pace further and settled down on the embankment the home was perched on, scanning it with all his senses as he searched for that spark of consciousness that was all Lucy. When he locked onto it, he chuckled under his breath. She was curled up in a second story room that had a lovely balcony, and as he made his way there, it became apparent that said room was meant to be her bedroom.

The lion smiled a little wryly with the irony. He loved the idea of keeping Lucy company in her bedroom, but _these_ particular circumstances were _far_ from what he desired. Still, his wants aside, she needed him, though in a different way than he hungered so deeply for, and he would gladly give her whatever she needed from him. With that in mind, he settled down gently on the balcony, his heart stuttering in his chest as that spark of _Lucy_ flared back into place inside him. Loke almost collapsed with the feeling and the sheer relief that surged as the bond filled his entire being once more. But he was also forced to rather dryly admit that he'd been a fool not to immediately trust Seirei-o's word; it became apparent in that moment that the bond between them had not actually been _gone,_ it had just been weakened to the point that he'd not been able to feel it like before.

He smiled and straightened, shrugging his shoulders as his own form shimmered and changed, now appearing in a simple pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, casual shirt, to replace the others that he'd been wearing that had been torn, singed, and damaged through the mission they'd been assigned by Master Makarov. Now appearing as his usual impeccably groomed self, he pushed the door aside and entered the room, taking in but not paying much attention to the bedroom itself. His focus was completely on the still rather faint energy signature that was his Lucy at the current time, and he frowned, taking note of just how weakened she seemed to be.

In light of such an evident power-drain, the lion was much surprised – and even more pleased – when she took note of him, her damaged spirit slowly turning towards him and winding around him with a sense of relieved, warm welcome. _Even like this, worn and damaged almost beyond belief, she still recognizes me, and she's even happy to see me!_ Those facts made a smirk cross his face, as well as a bit of a flush take up residence on his cheeks as they called to mind the 'prophecy' Seirei-o had recounted to him not long ago. _Maybe she_ _does_ _see me as more than just a friend._ Such a possibility made his heart pound and the flush deepen, as well as turning the slightly naughty smirk into a true smile – one of breathtaking happiness.

However, as the fear and confusion marking Lucy's energy infiltrated his consciousness, Loke set aside his silent celebration and reached out with some of his own energy, soothing and calming the young woman.

"It's okay, Lucy, everything's fine. You did it, you protected everyone from what Cepheus had done, and I'm here with you. I'll help you recover," he murmured, stroking her spirit with his own and feeding her some of that power.

The dim glow of light that was Lucy brightened just a little as his energy nudged at hers, and though she wasn't what one could call actually conscious at the current time, her sub-conscience stroked back at him in silent gratitude. There was a desperate sense of sheer relief within her for Loke's presence, and without her being truly awake to censor her thoughts and feelings, her joy in his presence was quite clear.

She was going to be absolutely mortified when she woke up and realized just how much she'd given away... the lion chuckled. _That'll be fun._

As the warmth of her spirit touched hungrily at his, Loke tossed all other thoughts aside and wrapped himself around her fully in his own energy form as she cuddled into him with metaphorical fingers clutching at him in fearful desperation. Loke couldn't help his frown; she was like a small child that had been terrorized by things they had no name for and no recognition of, and it broke his heart to see her that way.

"It's okay, my sweet Princess – I'm here now and I won't let anything happen to you. You just need to rest and recover, you'll be fine. And I'll watch over you and keep you safe while you sleep. If you need my energy to boost yours, I'll give it to you gladly, no question."

Still actively asleep, her spirit acknowledged his assurances with childlike, eager belief, and then settled down into the healing rest she so desperately needed. Loke was quite content to have her enveloped by his own power and completely comfortable in such a vulnerable state in his presence.

He was proud and happy – she'd turned to him in her time of need, trusting him to take care of her. He was certain in that moment that she wouldn't have opened herself up so far for anyone else, and it boosted his hopes of earning her affections permanently through the roof.

Mentally purring, he resolved to be patient and wait for his lovely mistress to be fully healed before he broached such a sensitive topic, however.

 _I can wait a little longer; the end is finally in sight, after all._

 _I'll never be alone again._.. The thought was a comfort all on its own – he'd been alone all his life, and despite his playboy reputation, that fact had never changed. None of those women had been able to soothe the ache in his spirit, to fill the emptiness, the desire for a loving counterpart – they'd only exacerbated it.

Now, he was fulfilled and content, and with warm affection directed at the woman snuggled up to him, he sighed deeply and allowed himself to fall into a light doze after ascertaining that there was nothing dangerous lurking anywhere nearby.

~~LoLu~~

Back on Earthland, the temporarily deserted place that used to be a training area disguised as a barn echoed eerily, a whispered cry to the unforgiving skies for absolution, perhaps. To the people nearing the epicenter of the recent near-disaster, it reeked of old pain and madness, of torment and torture, sending shivers down their spines. Nonetheless, Fairy Tail wizards don't give up on their comrades, and so they crept cautiously closer, bit by bit. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Gajeel and Wendy, and Master M himself were in attendance, interspersed by Gaults and his agents.

Those underlings and mages that had claimed loyalty to the disguised Cepheus and that had been taught Marionette had been caught by Virgo's trench when they tried to get out of the area and taken into custody, so that danger was now out of the way, at least. It would be some time before their fates were decided, but that was not their concern, it was the authorities responsibility.

The only thing Makarov and the others was interested in was finding their missing nakama and an explanation of exactly what had taken place there – and why. Unfortunately for them, both Loke and Lucy had already been whisked back to the celestial realm in an unconscious state, and Cepheus and his two top cohorts had been snagged by Seirei-o and _also_ forcibly returned to the spirit realm. Still, not being privy to that knowledge, the mages all continued moving in on the blasted remains of the ranch's training center with steady paces – all except Natsu, of course. When no movement from the area could be seen, he stood up and began boldly flinging the wreckage around while hollering for Lucy and Loke.

Makarov sighed tiredly and shook his head. What had he been thinking? If he'd wanted stealthy companions for this venture, he should have left fiery-tempered, impatient Natsu _behind_.

In a weary-sounding voice, but with what he personally felt was _great_ forbearance, he asked, "Natsu, what do you think you are doing?"

"Ha! He doesn't 'think' at all, that's the damn problem!" Gajeel scoffed loudly, his arms folded across his chest and his nose in the air in his usual aloof stance. "He just runs in where dragons fear to tread."

"Bring it, numbnuts!" Natsu immediately rejoined, dropping the piece of wreckage he'd been about to fling off into the distance and bringing his fire to hand. However, both dropped their spat and fell silent at the next reprimanding voice that was heard.

"Gajeel! Natsu! That's enough! Both of you knock it off, or you'll be explaining yourselves to _me_ over a duel, are we clear?"

The threat in Erza's voice was plain, and both dragon slayers were well acquainted with what it meant to cross the requip mage – and neither were particularly looking forward to getting their asses handed to them... again. The young woman was very powerful, and her threats were _never_ idle, after all.

The two disengaged with dour expressions, but Natsu was heard to grumble, "So what's the big deal? This place is already torn up, so what's it goin' to matter if we rumble in the ruins?" before finally falling silent.

Amusingly enough – to those who paid attention – Gajeel was also murmuring the same sort of thing as Natsu in his frustration. The two were so alike in some ways, but everyoneknew better than to actually suggest _that_ out loud – at least, they did if they wanted to keep living.

"It _matters_ because Lucy and Loke might be trapped underneath all this crap, and you two could cause them to be crushed beneath whatever you dislodge if you aren't careful! Do you think the rest of us want to move so damned slowly? No – but we are so that we don't inadvertently do more harm than good! Now stop pouting," Erza chided Natsu and, by extension, Gajeel. The two were always trying to outdo each other, and it frequently got out of hand.

They couldn't afford that impulsive sort of behavior at the current moment – the potential cost was far, far too high.

A snide glance by the rather large iron dragon slayer towards the fire dragon slayer was followed by the scathingly worded, "Pfft! Like ashes for brains _ever_ thinks things through! He's not too bright, so actually _thinking_ about consequences ain't somethin' he's used to doin'," while he tried to wriggle his way out of being caught acting like Natsu.

Unfortunately for him, Erza was no fool, and his efforts were in vain. Deciding that laying low was the _safest_ bet as far as maintaining his current uninjured status, the gruff but not truly hardhearted young man took several steps back and stayed put behind Makarov and kept his mouth shut.

Momentarily amused at the sight, Fairy Tail's Master didn't allow it to distract him, continuing to direct the younger and physically stronger (normally) members of the guild. Once in a while, when they'd come to an area he felt was intact, he would use his own power and shift through the largest pieces of the destroyed stone and metalwork. Despite their slower, more patient pace, with as many members of the guild had come along, it didn't take long at all for them to reach the lowest reaches of the former secret training area.

Worried by the fact that they had not found their missing comrades after searching through every bit of debris, Makarov was quick to order all his brats to go back to the guildhall, and leave the matter in his hands. As faces fell and cursing began, he drew forth his own power and suddenly, the tiny old man had become a giant, one capable of moving from one size to another as suited his needs.

That move just as suddenly had his brats all backing off, their sudden silence a tad bit humorous to Makarov – and just as aggravating. Why couldn't it work all the time with his rowdy group of wizards? Too many times even his ferocity had left the elite teams of the guild unimpressed and he'd had to put his foot down more than once. For hel's sake, though all the members of the guild knew the rules, Natsu's team had directly disobeyed them more than once. Up to and _including_ taking on S-Class missions that they were not yet truly capable of.

But not this time. It seemed the group had realized just how angry and worried he was for their nakama. Lucy was one of his favorite young ladies for her kind heart and caring ways, and her determination to protect her friends no matter the cost. She just didn't give up, and he wildly respected that.

And Loke? Well... while he wasn't really around anymore since his big secret had come out and Lucy had saved him from certain death, he was still a member of Fairy Tail – one in good standing. He'd never really given a reason that he'd continued paying his yearly dues to the guild, and Makarov had never questioned it. Given everything, he could respect him, as well, and he was fond of the (seemingly) young man that they had discovered was not really human, but the spirit of the constellation Leo. He was a good man (or lion) to have at your back.

Fairy Tail did NOT abandon their guildmates. It was number one in the guild's codex, and if it was ever discovered that one of their own _had_ betrayed that by abandoning their honor and their nakama to save his (or her) own skins, their contract with the guild would be terminated, effective immediately. That also included a lifetime ban, one that was withheld from them until they had already been thrown from the guild and their name had been stricken from the Member scrolls. Once that was done, unless the circumstances were dire, even _mentioning_ them thereafter carried its own penalty. They were the shamed, the sullied, a stain on the name and honorable reputation of the guild, and one that could never never be erased nor forgotten.

As soon as the rest of the guild members had grudgingly departed, Makarov turned briskly to Gaults and eyed him for a moment with an enigmatic expression. Then he glanced sideways at a certain female agent, and the aloof and rather prim young man standing opposite her pointedly ignoring her presence.

"Have any of the detainees said anything useful? Anything that could tell us whether Vashton survived and fled, where he went, or what might have happened to Lucy and Loke? Anything at all?"

Gaults blinked, staring at the old man with a touch of exasperation and even a little consternation. What did he expect? Miracles? They'd only made sure the members of the commune that they'd captured were appropriately guarded and then converged on the devastated building that had been the apparent ground zero for whatever had happened. There'd been no time for interrogating anyone!

"You know as much as we do," he finally grunted, looking around with a weary sigh. He rubbed at his furrowed brow. "But it would seem apparent to me that either whatever happened here completely vaporized them as well as their opponents, or they were swept somewhere else."

"If I may, sir," a cool voice interrupted, and the two older men looked expectantly at Leffler. "I do not believe that what happened here-" he gestured around them at the destruction, "-was what was _supposed_ to. Therefore, I doubt anyone of those that were captured could tell us anything useful. At this point, I think we can only hope that Lady Heartfilia and Leo survived and were simply returned to the spirit world to recover from whatever injuries they may have suffered."

His words were met with a scoff from the beautiful woman rather impatiently watching the three men speak, seemingly unimpressed by Makarov's rather sudden growth spurt. "Don't any of you know anything about celestial spirits? They're _immortal_. They can be injured, yes, but they can't _truly_ be killed. So they were probably reclaimed by the spirit world and whisked away when their energy ran out and their injuries weakened them. The bigger question is, where did Vashton disappear to? Was he destroyed along with his fancy hellhole, or did he escape? If he did, there could be a lot more trouble to come. _That's_ what you all should be worrying about right now, not whether immortal beings somehow forgot they were and allowed themselves to be killed. As if," Shona rolled her eyes, thrusting out a perfectly formed hip and resting a hand on it.

Just as Makarov opened his mouth to answer her, a voice interrupted their discussion, and they all turned to take in the sight of one of Gaults other agents carrying a damaged but still relatively intact chest their way. It wasn't overly large, but when the man set it down in front of his boss and the others and opened the lid, it became apparent that it was large _enough._ Sitting in front of them almost mockingly, many rather fancy silver keys glimmered under the light of the sun, and Fairy Tail's master was quite startled, for he knew exactly what they were.

So why were they _here,_ what had Vashton been hoping to accomplish with gathering them... and why hadn't Lucy or Loke taken possession of them if they had indeed survived the battle, as Seravien had so mockingly insisted they had?

Makarov and Gaults exchanged questioning glances, and then the giant turned little old man again turned stern eyes on the others and announced that he would be taking possession of the chest and its contents until either Lucy or Loke returned and asked for them. Because he had no doubts whatsoever that either or both of the celestial spirits had known they were here, had felt their presence.

A little taken aback at the old man's intensity as he stared almost challengingly at the people around him, the gathered wizards exchanged curious glances, but knew better than to question him.

With a slightly uncomfortable clearing of his throat, Gaults answered, deliberately keeping his voice mild, not wanting to anger his boss.

"It's your call, of course. But now I'm _really_ curious as to what was going on out here. What in the hell did Vashton need with spirit's gate keys? He wasn't a celestial spirit mage, and so far as we're aware, none of the others out here were, either."

Makarov pursed his lips and studied the chest and its contents contemplatively. "That's the question, isn't it?"

"What will you do with them if Lady Heartfilia or Leo don't return and ask for them?"

The once again little man paused for a few seconds as if considering, then grunted his reply.

"Give them to the only other mage I would trust to handle them appropriately. Yukino Aguria."

Silence fell once again in the ruins as crystallized dust spiraled into the sky, obscuring the sun like stormclouds passing over it, leaving a chill in the hearts of all those gathered.

And despite Makarov's faith in the sweet and demure mage from Sabertooth, he desperately hoped he wouldn't be forced to follow that course of action.

He would much rather have Lucy and Loke back.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

~LoLu~

A small bit of wind stirred small waves from the great river beneath it, and a wisp of consciousness reacted to it, partially waking its sentience from its deep, deep slumber.

 _Ohhh... I'm so tired. Where am I?_ A sluggish pause, and then...

 _Who... am I?_

… _And why am I so tired?_

Something moved against her, then, and a soft, gentle male voice broke over her, tangling itself into her very being. "You are Lucy, my love," it breathed, "the river, Eridanae, and the greatest glory of the heavens. And you're weary because you gave nearly everything you had to save all of those both above - and below - the skies. _Again."_

"Lucy... that sounds right, but wrong, too. And Eridanae... sounds right and wrong. How am I both, yet neither? How am I two people in one?" she murmured, her voice weak and listless, but sounding better than anything else ever had to Loke in that moment. He had feared so greatly that he would never hear it again, but hear it he did. Barely there, confused and sounding both tired and lost... but beautiful and soft, just like she was.

It was most definitely his Lucy, and once again he could feel that spark of her inside him, the link strong and feeling as though it had even gained in strength through all that had happened.

"You already know the answer to those things, Princess, all you need right now is more rest to recuperate all of your memories and your power. So sleep," he murmured soothingly, "rest as long as you need. I will be here to guard and keep you safe."

But while she was indeed still very tired, she was not able to simply fall back to sleep. Something else was tugging at her consciousness, something important – some unfinished task that needed to be completed. So despite her wish to follow that weariness into some dark hole where she could just sleep and forget everything else for the duration, she instead gathered as much strength as she could, and forced her mind to wake up completely.

It wasn't but two or three seconds after doing so that she gasped in shock, and Loke appeared instantly before her as both took on their physical forms. The blonde gaped at the lion for a moment as every memory of the last several months settled inside.

"I thought I was... dead! How did I survive all that?" she burst out, dazed teddy-bear brown eyes capturing his with a pleading light in them. "Or is this just another dream?"

Loke blinked, then cocked a brow in curiosity at the blonde, with a slightly perverse grin thrown in for good measure. "Ah-ha! So you have dreams of me, do you, my Master? And just what kind of dreams are they, hmm? If I take the strength of _that_ blush for an answer, they must be quite questionable, indeed. My, my, Lucy – I would never have taken you for such a dirty-minded woman."

"I'll give _you_ a black eye if you don't stop being a pervert, Loke!" the youngest of the spirits retorted with a balled-up fist that she shook under the Lion's nose – though there wasn't much force behind it. "What happened with Cepheus? And the other mages? Is everyone okay?! Well?! Don't keep me in suspense!"

With a chuckle, Loke refrained from pointing out that temporary lack of strength, and instead replied, "Everything is fine, Princess. Seirei-o already dealt with Cepheus and his cohorts, and as for the mages left back on Earthland, I'm sure Fairy Tail took care of them already."

"But you don't _know,_ do you?"

"Well, no, but we can find out what happened with the rest after you've slept some more, Lucy," he determined.

The blonde, despite the weary shadows under her eyes, shook her head. "No, no way. We need to go back and make sure everyone's okay and that the danger is over. You don't want to know what being controlled by Marionette is like, and neither does anyone else. I can't rest until I know for sure that it's all taken care of. Besides," she tacked on after a moment, "You know how the time difference works! It could have been weeks already, for them, and they'll be worrying!"

Loke eyed her with minor annoyance softened by rue, and shook his head. "I don't suppose you would just let Virgo or one of the others go to the guild on your behalf, would you? No," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I can see by the narrowing eyes that you aren't willing to compromise. So then... how do you intend to get through your gate, hm? I don't think you have the strength right no-"

He was cut off with a glare as Lucy gathered her power, and though it was obvious that she _was_ weakened, she wasn't about to let that stop her... and indeed, within seconds she was no longer there (which was the only reason he was able to escape that glare of hers).

With an utterly forced (and rather manic) smile, Loke opened his gate and stepped through it, disappearing from the spirit world mere seconds behind her.

~~LoLu~~

"Lucy!"

A short, high-pitched shriek was abruptly overpowered as more shouts of the poor girl's name echoed loudly throughout the guildhall, and once again, just like a few weeks before, the girl whose name was being repeated over and over shuddered. Not that she wasn't happy that her friends had missed her so much, but she was still recovering – and probably would be for a while – and the swarm of people heading for her all at once had her shrinking back in fear for the pain she was undoubtedly about to go through when everyone in the guild piled atop her.

She cringed back and closed her eyes, trying to brace herself, but there was a sudden silence and lack of movement, and she cautiously peeked one eye open to see what had saved her.

She was forced to close her eyes again as a bright golden light almost blinded her, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Even annoyed, Loke still protected her, and she was terribly thankful for it.

Once everyone had stilled, shielding their own eyes from the intense light of Loke's power, the lion spoke.

"You guys need to chill out and back the fuck off," he growled, giving one last bright flash of light before he let his power fall back to sleep inside himself. "Lucy really shouldn't be up and about yet, let alone coming here to greet you great big group of uncontrolled jerks. But since I couldn't convince her to stay at home and continue to recuperate, you all are going to have to show some restraint. She's in no shape to be pounced on."

At that, most of those that had rushed towards Lucy stepped back, and the few that didn't moved towards her much more cautiously, eyeing Loke all the while.

It was Erza that broke the silence.

"Just how badly were you hurt, Lucy?" she asked gently.

Before the blonde could answer and downplay her condition, Loke spoke, still obviously annoyed. "She nearly died – and since spirits are usually immortal, that should tell you enough without me having to say any more on that topic. What Cepheus released would have destroyed both our worlds if Lucy hadn't stopped him, but the toll it took on her is going to take a while to heal," he answered the red-head shortly.

Before anyone else could speak, the crowd parted and Master Makarov stepped forward, eyeing both Lucy and Loke carefully. He could quite clearly see what Loke meant when he said Lucy was not at full strength or even close; she looked weary, her eyes tired and even a little confused, and her usually healthy complexion pale, almost gray. Whatever she had done had clearly taken almost everything she had to give.

"Everyone go back to what you were doing," Makarov stated with quiet command, and then as soon as there was room to walk, he led Lucy and Loke towards a table and had them both take a seat. He noted Loke taking a spot far closer to the blonde than ever before, and smiled a little inwardly. Perhaps some good would come from all the bad, after all.

Once they were all seated, Makarov met Lucy's eyes gravely. "What exactly _did_ Cepheus do – and how did you stop it? What was he after?"

Loke answered, as he knew more of the story than Lucy, since she'd been under Cepheus' power for most of the time and didn't recal all that was said.

"He wanted to destroy all celestial mages and take back all our keys so that there would be no more spirit-mage bonds." Loke took a long pull of his drink, then set the bottle down gently on the table with a sigh. "He had his reasons, which I won't go into here," he continued, "but what he ended up doing was tearing a rift in space-time, and that rift started pulling all the power from both worlds – your world _and_ ours. Lucy... I don't know how she did it-" he glanced at her with admiration tinged with worry, "-but she somehow channeled the power being drained from both worlds to fuel Cepheus' spell back into the spirit world so that Seirei-o could contain and then calm it all. If it had been any stronger... she wouldn't have survived."

There was a dead, shocked silence, not one person in the building saying a word as they all tried to imagine what Loke was describing.

"Why would he do something like that?" Mira wondered aloud. "I mean, did he want to die and destroy all the other spirits, too?"

Loke took a moment answering as he tried to figure out a way to say it without saying it, so to speak. Rape was not a subject for casual discussion. "As I said earlier," he finally said, rolling his shoulders and not meeting anyone's eyes, "he had his reasons. And they were very understandable reasons, though they pushed him into the insanity of going after _all_ spirit mages instead of just the one that caused the... problem. Everything he'd been doing out there was nothing more than a trap – for Lucy. He specifically wanted her, and again he had his reasons. Not that any reason would be enough for me to ever let anyone harm her in any way whatsoever," he added curtly. "But in the end, even I couldn't deal with what he called down on all our heads. Only Lucy had a chance of that, and she did it. 'Nuff said."

It was clear that Loke didn't want to discuss things any further, and Makarov could understand. But there were still questions to be answered. He looked at the blonde.

"Was he an old enemy of your family, Lucy? Someone with a grudge against you for something they did?"

Tired brown eyes blinked a little dazedly, but she shook her head. "Oh, no, it wasn't anything like that. It was-"

She was cut off by Loke before she could say anything further. "It was just some old prophecy or something," he replied dismissively, though his cheeks pink'd even as he tried very hard to play it off. "He was just mad that a human became a celestial spirit – it was part of that hatred he had for celestial mages, that's all."

Makarov and most of the rest of the guild easily noticed that Loke was leaving something out – something that he was embarrassed about, and they all started wondering. Just what was it about this 'prophecy' he had mentioned that would cause that reaction from the normally imperturbable lion?

"There was a prophecy about me becoming a spirit?"

It was Lucy that broke the silence and asked the question on everyone else's minds, and Loke groaned inwardly. Why couldn't the damn snoops think of anything else to ask about? And in getting Lucy to ask the question, he was trapped into answering no matter his wishes.

"Yes," he replied carefully, trying to think fast to avoid discussing something that should only be between them, and not the entire freakin' guild. "Apparently, everything that's happened was meant to, and I guess things in the spirit world are going to be much better than they ever have been because of it."

He stopped there, hoping to get a reprieve from that particular part of the business, but he had no such luck. Lucy knew him far too well – and right now was one of the only times he wished it was a little less... thoroughly, for lack of a better way to say it.

"That's not all, Loke," she shot back with narrowed eyes, "what aren't you telling us?"

Already frazzled and beyond sure that this whole inquisition had just started, Loke leaned forward and let his head thump onto the tabletop. "Mira, I could use a drink right now," he mumbled into the scarred wood, but the barmaid heard him anyway.

"What would you like?"

"Anything that will make this day vanish into the recesses of my mind and never find its way back."

"Got ya."

Fingertips began a tapping noise against the table, and Lucy nudged the handsome man next to her. "Well?"

He sat up and looked at her with serious eyes. "I'll answer that question later, Lucy, when we're alone. It's not something that has any bearing on the situation with Cepheus or all that, and it's no one else's business, besides, okay? Trust me. You don't want to talk about it here."

Loke almost never looked completely serious – there was nearly always a mischievous gleam deep in his eyes, so the fact that there wasn't right now made her give in immediately. If Loke was saying she didn't want it answered in front of anyone else, then she knew she _didn't_ want it answered in front of anyone else.

"Okay."

Looking quite relieved, Loke breathed a sigh of relief on the back of a smile, glad that she trusted him that much.

Now the blonde pinned the guildmaster with worn but gentle brown eyes. "So what happened after I... disappeared?" she asked. "I've been worried..."

The tiny man waved a casual hand. "Pretty much everyone on the property ran, just like you two thought they would, and Virgo's trench around the ranch fooled every single one of them. Then it was just a matter of rounding them up, and the few that did try Marionette were either knocked unconscious by someone before they could complete it, or Virgo simply did it herself."

A breathtaking smile lifted the tiredness in Lucy's eyes, and she looked immensely relieved. "So no one else was hurt or anything?"

"Nope," Natsu's voice intervened as he sauntered up to them, looking Lucy over with a small concerned frown. "No one but you. The whole thing was boring. While the authorities took care of hauling all the rats in the trench off, we went looking for you and Loke through the wreckage. O'course we didn't find you, and once we figured you guys weren't there, there wasn't much we could do but come back here and hope that you guys would show back up soon."

Lucy looked a bit guilty. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to make anyone wait. I only just woke up right before we came."

"Naw," the dragon-slayer waved off her explanation, "don't worry about it. We'd rather have waited until you were better than have you showing up here when you weren't up to it."

There were murmurs of agreement from around the room, and Lucy flushed slightly and gave a tiny smile. "Thanks, guys."

Then Natsu grinned evilly as he leaned on the table in front of Loke, Gajeel right behind him as though he knew exactly what the other man was going to say. "The only interestin' part of all of that came from one of those spies gramps had there. What was her name again, bolts-for-brains?"

Gajeel snorted sourly at Natsu. "I think she said it was Shona, ya barbecued runt." Then he grinned smugly at Loke. "She sure seemed interested in where _you_ were and when you'd be returning."

A rather loud growl erupted from a throat, and everyone in the room was quite surprised to see that it came from Lucy, of all people. And so Natsu and Gajeel grinned even more, knowing they were on to something good.

Hands fisted and arms akimbo, the blonde woman glared hard at the tabletop while Loke looked just as annoyed – with a pinch of worry thrown in. "She's one of those women that have to sleep with just about any male that steps in front of her," he muttered sourly. "I went so far as to tell her straight out I wasn't interested, and that only made her _more_ determined. I hope I never see her again."

" _She'd_ better hope she never sees you again," Lucy grumbled, greatly disgruntled at that name. "Or she's going to be wearing my fist."

"You're not mad at _me_ , are you, Lucy?" Loke questioned. "You know I didn't like her."

"I know. You said she reminded you of Karen, and I know how you feel about her."

That part of things was obviously a sore subject, so Erza decided to move the conversation right along.

"So how did you stop all that power and close the rift?"

Lucy shook her head. "I didn't. There was too much. I wasn't even entirely sure that Seirei-o could tame all that, but it was our only hope. So I just opened myself to it all and instead of trying to stop it, I redirected it into the spirit world. Apparently, Seirei-o was able to still the furor, and, well...

"Well, what?"

"Oh, well, it's nothing, really," Lucy replied, blushing.

"Nothing?!" Loke nearly shouted, looking at her as if she were crazy. "You did what you did, thinking it was going to kill you! But you did it anyway! That's not ' _nothing, really',_ Lucy _,_ he mocked, a savage frown making him look angry enough to kill something. "When you woke up, you thought you were dead and just dreaming. You were convinced that what you did was your death sentence, but that didn't stop you or even slow you down." He snorted and looked away, loosening his tightly-fisted hands and trying to tame the fear that even now, with her safe and right beside him, froze his blood in his veins.

The guild all flinched and waited for the celestial mage turned spirit to begin yelling at her partner in the job, but no such thing took place. Instead, she looked at Loke as tears stained her eyes a softer brown, and tentatively reached out to touch his shoulder. When he growled under his breath again, she almost pulled back, but then laid her hand on him anyway.

The guild was absolutely silent as Loke looked up at the blonde woman, but when he saw the tears in her eyes his anger disappeared entirely, and he closed his eyes, looking pained and beginning to shake a little.

"Loke, I'm sorry! I didn't want to upset you, but what else could I do? If I'd done nothing, then we all would have been dead. It was me, or it was everyone. There was just no other way that could have been handled!"

Reaching out and grasping her by the waist so quickly that not only she gasped in surprise, but so did most of the members in the room, Loke dragged her against him and buried his face in her hair, almost too choked up to speak. But after a moment, he managed.

"I'm not mad at you, Lucy. I'm mad at Cepheus. I mean, I know why he did it, and I can even understand it. But he almost cost me you, and that's where I draw the line. I... I just want to go and beat the hell out of him every time I think of what almost happened."

"I'm with Loke on this one," Natsu growled, hugging around the side of the blonde that the lion wasn't taking up before stepping back. "I don't know why he did all that shit, but I don't care. If you hadn't come back... I probably _would_ have killed him."

"You'd have had to get in line," Erza broke in, and Gray nodded gravely in agreement. "I think we all would have liked to kill him."

"Calm down, my children," Makarov finally spoke up. He'd been silent for some time, just listening to what everyone had to say. He was quite sure, however, that no matter how badly the guild would have wanted to get their hands on Cepheus if Lucy had died, Loke'd have had him clawed into tiny little bits before anyone else even had a chance.

It was no surprise, really. After all, Loke _was_ crazy in love with the girl, even if she herself didn't see it. He smiled secretively to himself as he spoke, suspecting that things between the two spirits would be changing greatly in the very near future.

"I would like to know where Cepheus disappeared to. Was he destroyed in the explosion? Should we be looking out for more attempts by him to harm Lucy? And was he the only spirit that was part of this?"

"No, no," Loke denied, exhaling heavily as he let the anger go. "No... something knocked some sense back into Cepheus between the time everything blew up and when he woke up with his cohorts back in the spirit world, facing a _very_ angry Seirei-o. He feels terrible about what he did to Lucy – though that doesn't mean I'm ready to forgive him – and will probably spend the next few thousand years trying to make it up to her. As far as other spirits working with him, there were two, but they were basically the spirit world equivalent of lowlifes, and I think Seirei-o has made them also very sorry for their part in things."

"Then it seems as though everything has ended well," Makarov murmured absently as he went over everything that he'd learned and put it all together so that he could then file it away.

"Yes," Lucy smiled, then flushed as a huge yawn forced itself on her before she could stop it. "I'm still so tired, though," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking like nothing so much as a weary child that needed put to bed, and grinning inwardly, the guildmaster looked at Loke and tilted his head toward the young woman. "I think it's time she went back to bed, now. It's obvious her energy has not yet returned to normal."

The girl slumped against the tawny-eyed man's chest, and Loke wrapped her securely into his embrace as he agreed with Makarov. "Yes, now you know what happened and that everything's okay, so it's time for you to go back to bed, sweetheart. Without arguing," he added.

There was a round of general laughter at that, because Lucy hated being ill or stuck in bed, and detested being told what to do in certain ways, too. But she just wrapped herself around a more-than-willing-to accommodate her Loke, and began dozing off right there.

"Night, guys," she grumbled, voice barely audible.

Loke chuckled as he stood with her in his arms. He opened his gate and stepped through, tossing her message over his shoulder as they disappeared.

 _We'll have to go hang out with everyone for a few days after Lucy's better,_ he thought a little absently as he smiled gently down at the sweetly sleeping girl he was holding. Wanting nothing more than to take a nice nap curled up with her, he glanced in the direction of Eridanus and Lucy's house, then glanced around his bedroom, where they'd ended up.

"Screw it," he decided. "She can scream at me about it later. Right now, I just don't care."

And with that, Loke glowed golden for a few seconds as he changed into some sleeping pants and a soft shirt, and then laid Lucy down and promptly crawled into the bed with her. Wrapping himself around her in every possible way he could, the lion sighed and then began purring quietly as he dozed off to sleep.

 _I could sleep like this every night,_ was the last thought he had before everything trailed down into a gentle darkness, and he was awake no more.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

~~LoLu~~

Loke woke abruptly, fully awake in a split second as he felt the beginning intrusions of energy that wasn't his or Lucy's.

Immediately pinpointing the invading power, he shimmered and vanished from where he'd been wrapped around a still and silent young woman, the sheets fluttering gently down to lay against the bed as he disappeared.

When he reappeared he was outside Lucy's river-bound home, fully groomed and in his neatly-pressed suit, staring across the water at someone he hadn't thought he'd have to deal with anytime soon. While he'd reluctantly set aside his anger at Cepheus and the other two lowlife's that had helped him for what had almost happened, he had definitely thought that the other man would have the sense to stay away from him for a long, _long_ time to come.

Like, possibly a few thousand years or so.

And even worse, he was actually cornering him here, on what he personally considered sacred ground? This was Lucy's part of the heavens, and the man who had nearly destroyed her (and just about everything else) in his madness, had the nerve to appear here?

"What are you doing, Cepheus?" he growled, expression hard. "You should have known that I wouldn't let you anywhere near Lucy, no matter what the fuck your intentions are, especially so soon after what you did. Hell, she's still recovering – still asleep."

Surprisingly, Cepheus looked repentant, even hesitant, but nonetheless, he didn't back away. "I'm sorry, Leo, but Seirei-o ordered me to do this. I must speak to Eridanae and beg her forgiveness for my actions and what they caused. And anything she requires of me as penance, I must adhere to until she says otherwise."

Loke's frown deepened to a scowl. "Good for Seirei-o. I just told you she's still sleepi-"

"Actually, no, I'm not," Lucy's voice broke in, and both men turned to look at her as she materialized next to the lion, rubbing her eyes, and yawning like a small child trying to wake themselves up to face a new day - a little earlier than they really wanted to.

She still sounded a bit tired, but not nearly as bad as she had when they'd returned from Fairy Tail yesterday, and she'd fallen asleep almost before Loke had laid her down in her bed. She also hadn't changed into anything more formal than the shorts and t-shirt she'd gone to sleep in, and her hair was slightly frazzled. But her gaze, now that she'd stopped rubbing at her eyes, was quite aware, and her features serious and a little sad.

"Lucy," Loke began softly, gently reaching out to touch her shoulder, "you don't have to deal with this right now-"

A flash of amusement lit her eyes for a moment, just slightly lifting the solemnity otherwise visible in her gaze. "Well, according to Seirei-o, I do."

Muscles in his jaw jumped as he tried to hold back the threats he wanted to fling at everyone that he felt was a danger to her in any way. "I don't care. You shouldn't be pushing yourself after what you did to save us all. They can just wait."

She shook her head at him, smiling pensively. "Loke, I'm okay. Sure, I don't feel _quite_ like myself yet, and I'm definitely not up to any battles, but I am perfectly capable of talking." She rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

Lips tightening, he studied her, his stare loaded with everything he wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to voice in front of anyone else. Finally, he nodded unhappily, and stepped away a little bit to let her decide what she wanted to do in this situation. He'd just have to talk to her after she'd gotten rid of her company.

After a few seconds of looking at Loke and wondering what had him so upset – she was fine, after all, still alive though she'd believed herself dead - she set her confusion aside and looked across the water. Cepheus was still as a statue, simply waiting for her judgment with a surprisingly patient look on his face, and guilt in his eyes.

As angry as she'd been at the man that was behind all that she'd recently suffered, she couldn't bring herself to remain that way as she saw the raw pain in his gaze because of what his wife had been through, though it was overlaid by other emotions that were directed at her.

What could she really say? He was hurting, and his wife was hurting, and Lucy hated to see anyone in pain. It broke her heart. She'd wished so many times that she could _heal_ all who had suffered, not just share in their anguish. She was far too empathetic, but even though she could suffer with them, she couldn't stop their pain, and that had always caused _her_ pain.

Tears welled in her eyes as she opened herself up to him, and slipped down her cheeks without her even realizing. In the blink of an eye she disappeared from Loke's side and appeared in front of Cepheus, her hand reaching out to brush against his heart, and she choked up, unable to even speak for a moment.

Loke instantly followed her and tried to step protectively between them, but when Lucy looked up at him with agony in her eyes – agony he realized wasn't entirely hers – he jerked back in surprise, and decided it might be better not to interfere with whatever was happening.

After several seconds that seemed to the lion to last a short eternity, Lucy stepped back a little, letting her hand drop, though tears still rolled down her cheeks.

And then she shook her head.

"There's no debt here. I won't willingly add to your pain. Forgive yourself as I've forgiven you, and go home and take care of your wife," she said softly, her eyes sparking with compassion mixed with sadness. "She needs you."

At her most unexpected words Cepheus' face twisted, and suddenly, he was fighting tears. He couldn't _believe_ the love that this woman was made of – she had one of the most beautiful hearts of anyone he'd ever seen... and he'd almost destroyed her in his madness and misplaced hatred. Too choked up to even speak, he let his eyes tell her what he wanted to say, and then bowed deeply to her, far deeper than he had ever bowed to anyone. Then he slowly faded away with a speaking glance at Loke.

 _Take care of her always, Leo. You are far more lucky than you know to have this woman's heart._

Loke simply nodded; what was there to say? The other man was right. _Well,_ he amended silently, _if that so-called prophecy wasn't off and she really does love me. But I suppose... I'm lucky to know her, to be close to her, even if it is only as a friend._

He looked down at her, then followed her gaze with his own. Her eyes were far away, and pinned on Cepheus' constellation, her hands clasped behind her back. When those soft brown eyes of hers moved and went elsewhere, he was made aware that it was to Cassiopeia's part of the heavens.

"Are you mad at me for not punishing him?"

Startled, and a little dismayed that she would think something like that, he reached up and cupped her chin in one gentle palm, lifting her face to his. Her eyes still looked distressed, though her tears, he was thankful to note, had finally stopped.

"I could never be angry at you for much of anything, let alone for following your heart – isn't that why I even still exist? If you hadn't cared so much for someone you barely knew, enough to take on even Seirei-o, then I would have been long gone." He sighed, and shook his head, his hand moving as he ran his fingers over her cheek, drying the residual wetness that was still there. "I understand why Cepheus did what he did, and I can't say what _I_ would have done had I been in his place. But I can't deny that I still have some anger at him, because he almost cost me you."

The embodiment of the river of heaven searched his eyes, stunned and disbelieving at what it seemed they were saying. "Loke, I-" she choked, but he shook his head, laying a gentle finger against her lips to hush her.

"Lucy, I love you. There's just no point in hiding it anymore – hell, I don't even know how much longer I'd have been able to keep it from you, anyway. I've always loved you – it started even before you saved me, and it's only grown stronger over the time I've known you."

A slight flush raced high across his cheekbones as he removed his finger from her lips with a tender caress, but he refused to look away from her astonished gaze. Since she appeared speechless, he continued.

"I don't want you to feel you have to reciprocate. I know I didn't present myself in a very good light when we met, and it's my own fault for being such a fool. But know this," he added softly, "I will continue to love you forever, and I will count it an honor to defend you, even to the death. Beyond that, you will always be my best friend, Lucy, no matter where eternity takes us."

"Loke," she breathed, seemingly unable to get any bottom under her voice.

It looked as though he'd shocked her pretty deeply, and he wondered how she'd been unable to see his feelings for her, because he felt as though he'd been pretty obvious. Hell, he'd even told her he loved her – well, showed her with his power – but he couldn't really be surprised that she hadn't taken him seriously about that. She'd probably brushed it off as just another instance of his usual flirting. He looked away, shamefaced. Gods... if he were given the chance, he'd go back in time and kick his own ass for becoming such a playboy, because as much as he might deserve it if she turned him away because she just couldn't find it in herself to believe him, he'd never get over it, and he'd hate himself forever. He hadn't lied when he'd told her she didn't have to reciprocate, but stars knew he desperately wished that she would _want_ to.

He could only hope and pray that prophecy was right, and that at least someday, she'd give him a chance. She had seemed as if she were opening up to him a little more, but then that job they'd taken on at Makarov's request had gone much differently than they'd had any idea it would, and there hadn't been any time since to talk to her about such a personal matter.

A soft touch to his cheek startled him enough to flinch just slightly, but despite his shame, he couldn't resist when Lucy turned his head back towards her, even bending down a little when he still wouldn't quite meet her gaze. Surprised, he looked up, and was captivated by the hope in her eyes, and the slightly shy smile on her blushing face.

"Come on," she said softly, grabbing one of his hands in hers as she began to sparkle away. Not letting go of her hand for an instant, not even caring where she was leading him, Loke followed instantly.

When they both rematerialized, they were standing atop the home she'd created, on what could only be called a huge deck. The view was spectacular, the river sparkling with a million lights as it flowed around the house, and above it, stars, nebulae, and constellations shone in unhindered glory.

At his side, however, stood the one thing in his universe that was more beautiful than the heavens themselves, and that was where his gaze stayed despite the beauty around him. She had changed, now dressed and perfect, rather than rumpled from sleep (not that he really cared either way, since she was gorgeous no matter what she was wearing) with a look in eyes shining brighter than any star he'd ever seen that sent his heart into an immediate gallop.

"You wanted to see my house, didn't you? So I thought we'd start at the top."

He shook his head with a tentative grin. "I'd rather look at you."

She blushed again, brighter this time, but grinned back. "I'm sure you'll get tired of staring at me sooner or later," she teased.

"That's not possible."

And then her face softened, and the veil she usually kept her deepest thoughts and feelings hidden behind faded away, and the lion suddenly found himself unable to breathe as she said, "Oh, Loke. I love you, too," simply, and with no guile whatsoever. "I have for a long time."

Victory and joy rushed through him, and he reached for her, crushing her to him as just held her as tightly as possible without hurting her, for a moment that spanned eternity...

…...

But the second that eternity was over, he pulled away just enough to tilt her chin up, and with her complete complicity, pressed his lips to hers, tasting her sweetness for only the second time.

He would not allow there to be a final time. Forever was theirs, now.

And all unnoticed by either of them, they began to glow, brighter and brighter, until it looked as though they were a newborn star just bursting into exuberant life...

All the heavens rejoiced with them, knowing that the lonely lion had finally found the one who would heal all his hurts, and stay by his side for all time.

~~LoLu~~

"It's _about_ damn time, if you ask me," muttered Aquarius, arms folded across her ample chest, and features plastered with a scowl. "If those two were any slower, forever would have already ended."

"But forever never ends!" chirped Gemi and Mini, giggling at the dangerous gaze she pinned them with.

"Exactly my point."

Capricorn tucked his hands into his pockets and sighed, gaze a little distant, as if he were looking somewhere far into the past. "Leo is blessed by the heavens to have such a love. Not everyone will get the same chance, no matter how long they live."

At that, the spirits went quiet for a long moment, knowing why he would make such a statement. He had loved Lucy's mother in just such a way, but she had not returned his love in the same manner, and had married another.

It was Virgo that broke the silence. "I believe it is time I remind Princess and brother that her belongings are still earthbound. It is doubtful whether her former landlady will continue to hold on to her things for very long without payment."

Scorpio blinked, and then nodded. "Oh stars, yes – if we don't catch him before he gets her into bed, it'll be too late, since time on Earthland goes so much faster." While his words were true, there was a wicked little smirk beginning to break across his face, and the others figured out very quickly _why_ he looked that way.

Of them all, Aquarius seemed the most amused, while little Aries just blushed darker than her hair. Taurus was sulking, still very upset that Leo had gotten the girl and her _hot body_ , and Sagittarius fidgeted slightly, face prim, and then cleared his throat.

"Yes, perhaps we should go now. I would not want to interrupt... anything serious." He began blushing brighter than Aries at the very idea, but nonetheless faded away with the rest of them, absolutely positive he wasn't going to enjoy the next few minutes.

 _This is going to be very... awkward. Leo may never forgive us._

~~LoLu~~

He was right. Leo was never going to forgive them.

Having just swept Lucy into his arms to carry her back inside, he was not best pleased to suddenly be faced with a line of spirits who were all looking at him with some form of amusement on their faces, even a still-blushing Aries and Sagittarius.

Loke gritted his teeth so hard Lucy could hear them grinding, and scowled. "I hate you all," he announced. "What the hell do you all want _right this minute,_ that couldn't wait for later?" Much, _much_ later ?"

His irritation was so palpable she almost broke out giggling. _Almost._ Probably would have, if she hadn't been as frustrated as he was at the interruption.

Still, she remembered her manners, and nudged Loke's chest with her elbow. "Put me down," she whispered to him. "We'll continue this later, but right now..." her eyes flicked to their friends, and then back to him, "... right now we have company." _As unwelcome as they are. Seriously,_ she thought, _I love them all, but at this very moment I wish they'd all go somewhere else, far, far away._

But it was clear that wasn't going to happen, and as Lucy was gently placed back on her own two feet by a very disgruntled Loke, she sighed inwardly and forcibly calmed her racing heart.

"So... um, what did you all need?" she asked.

"It is not what we need, Princess, but what _you_ need. Have you forgotten your personal belongings that are still being held by your landlady?" Virgo returned. "I believe we need to see to removing your possessions from her... dubious care."

As soon as Virgo's words caught her attention, Lucy's face drew up in horror at the lion. "Wait... how long has it been in Earthland since I last paid my rent?! After everything that's happened, I've lost track!"

He stared at her helplessly, and shook his head. "I've lost count, too... but it's been at least six weeks or so. Maybe more."

"Oh, my god," she mumbled, horrified, face in her hands, "If I don't get there and pay her what I owe I'm going to lose everything!"

There was a quiet snicker from someone.

At the sound, she scowled and drew herself up, her expression going from horrified to determined. "Well, then, I need to get my money from Master Makarov, go pay her what I owe her, and then we can move all my stuff here. While there's some things I won't be upset over if I never recover, there are others that _are_ precious to me, and it would break my heart to lose them."

Loke realized that some of those precious things were the gifts her father had sent her every year on her birthday after she'd vanished along with Tenroujima. And then there was his final letter to her before his death – which occurred a bare few months before she returned. Those things could never be replaced.

Setting aside his desire for her (though still slightly reluctantly), Loke stepped up and settled a possessive hand low on her back - a gesture none of the other spirits missed – and jumped right in.

"I'll go with you, and then as soon as you've paid your landlady, you can summon the others to help gather all your belongings."

Lucy looked up at him for a moment with a grateful nod. "Thanks, Lo-"

She was interrupted by a now looming Aquarius. " _I. Don't. Do. Menial. Labor,_ " she ground out. Then she jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Aries and Virgo. "That's the province of little Miss Merry Maid over there, and the shrinking violet standing next to her trembling, and getting ready to pop out with -"

"I'm sorry!"

The water bearer smirked at that, and folded her arms over her chest again. "I rest my case."

A sour scoff from Loke made Aquarius narrow her eyes. "We don't need your help, anyway. With your temper, you'd probably break anything you were asked to carry."

Aquarius balled up her fist and opened her mouth to shout something back at Leo, but he spoke over her, ignoring the imminent explosion.

"Everyone who's _willing_ to help, please wait for Lucy's call. We won't be long getting her money from the guild," he informed them, and then took the blonde girl with him as he faded away, leaving behind a now-ranting mermaid.

"Sometimes I just want to take her water jug and fill it with the iciest water in the universe, and then dump it over her head," he grunted as they appeared just outside the guild, rolling his eyes. "Damn drama queen."

Lucy giggled as she imagined it. "She'd kill you."

"She'd _try_ to kill me. Doesn't mean she'd succeed. There's a _reason_ I'm the leader of the Zodiac, and not her."

With a small grin, he reached out and took her hand as her giggles deepened to laughter, and then faded into a shy smile.

"You don't mind this, do you?" Loke asked, shaking their joined hands a little. He wanted to be sure she wasn't reluctant for their friends to find out their new status as a couple. He would understand if she wasn't and wanted to keep it on the down low, but he had to admit – if only to himself – that it would hurt.

A sunny smile transformed her expression, and though there was a certain shyness visible if you looked into her eyes, her blush dissipated, and she shook her head.

"Of course I don't mind, silly."

"Are you truly certain? You aren't ashamed to be seen with me because of my past with women?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she denied any embarrassment. Instead, she informed him that she rather hoped that some of those old girlfriends of his _were_ hanging around, because then they'd get the message that he was now very permanently taken.

"And they'd better buzz off without trying anything funny, because I won't be responsible for my actions if they don't."

Loke grinned widely, quite enjoying the thought of her hogging him to herself "Getting a mite possessive, aren't we, my dear?" he asked as he reached out to pull open the guild's main doors.

She shot him a knowing look at that. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all. But quid pro quo, love. I get to be all possessive of you, too."

He tightened his fingers around hers as they entered the huge main hall of Fairy Tail. The door didn't even make it closed before someone spotted them with their hands clasped together, and the shouting and cheering immediately commenced, leaving both members of the new couple wincing.

"Well," he said to Lucy, almost having to raise his voice to a yell to be heard over the rest of the guild, "it would appear that – at least _most_ of them - approve." He didn't feel the need to mention the ones that _didn't_ , because they just wanted her for themselves. _Too bad, so sad for you all,_ he thought with an inward smirk. _She's all mine, and I'm never letting her go._

"It wouldn't matter if they did or not. I'm not going to stop loving someone because someone else doesn't like it."

Loke smiled as she answered his previous words with sincere ones of her own. He loved her fierce, indomitable will, and gentle and caring heart. He just loved _her._

The pair were swept along by a tide of friends all demanding to know how they – as a couple – had come about, and how she was doing, because she looked pretty damn good for someone who had almost died saving the world just a few weeks ago.

… Or yesterday, depending on whether you were counting spirit world time, or earthland.

The shouting and noise came to an abrupt halt as a sharp, piercing whistle rose above the tumult.

"Look, guys, I know all you inveterate gossips would like to have the answers to all those questions, but we don't have time right now. I need to see the Master, and then I need to go pay my landlady her back rent, or I'll lose all my stuff. And after that, I need to move my things to the spirit world." She inhaled and then finished with, "Once all that's done, I'll come visit and fill you all in, okay?"

There was an echoing silence for a moment, and then the two were swarmed by all their friends.

"We can assist in this endeavor," Erza announced, with a stern look around the room for any that would deny her, "There aren't any decent jobs right now, so no one's busy."

Not one person dared disagree, not wanting to risk Erza's wrath, though with Natsu's sudden enthusiasm, Lucy winced, thinking of the things he might break. _I'll just have to make sure he only packs up books, and unbreakable things like that._

Nonetheless, she smiled, a lovely, grateful smile at all her friends. "Thanks, guys," she replied softly.

"Then when we get to her place, we can go on up and start packing things, and when we've got it ready, you can call our _other_ friends and have them transport them to your new house," Loke said.

"Yes, but we do need boxes," Lucy interjected, but before she could say anything else, Master Makarov made his way through the hall dragging a suitcase that was - rather comically - much larger than him.

It was filled with Lucy's money, and as he handed it over to the blonde, it was so heavy she slumped with a surprised look, at which point Loke took it from her.

As the Master breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed at his poor wrist, he said, "There are plenty of boxes of all sizes in the storage area upstairs. Anything that's empty can be taken and used to help our Lucy."

There was a veritable stampede up the stairs, led by Natsu and Gray, and Lucy smiled a little tearfully at the guildmaster. "I'm really going to miss you guys... but if you ever need my help for anything," she said, reaching up to her hair to take out a delicate looking star that seemed to shine with its own low glow, please just take this and think of me, then say my name, and I'll come as quickly as I can, okay?"

The Master nodded with his own tear-filled gaze and a smile full of affection. "It won't be the same around her without you, my dear, but we will never forget you. And besides – your dues have been paid for a year, so you're still part of this guild, just like Loke."

Lucy thought about that a moment, calculating what a lifetime of dues would be, and then had Loke set the heavy case of money on a table. Opening the lock, she counted out enough to cover herself _and_ Loke, and handed it over to Makarov.

"There. Now we'll still be part of the guild for the next seventy years, at least," she informed them with a satisfied nod.

Both Loke and the master gaped at her, but didn't have the chance to say anything, because at that point all those who'd evacuated upstairs came back down with boxes, ready to head out to Lucy's old apartment.

And so, leading a small army of mages all carrying boxes of all different shapes and sizes, Lucy and Loke (who were still holding hands) led the way back to her old digs to face her landlady and ready her things to be moved to her new home in the heavens.

It was a bittersweet time for them all, because they were sort of losing a well-loved member of the guild. But at least it wasn't a permanent goodbye - she would still be around from time to time, just like Loke.

With the way things had turned out, that was the best they could have hoped for, and better than losing her forever, as they almost had.

~~LoLu~~

A/N: Well, just one more chapter and an epilogue, and this one will be finished! YaY!

Then I can start working on other things, private projects as well as perhaps finishing some old things I never completed. Wish me luck!

And also a great big thanks to those who've followed this one from beginning to end, I hope you've enjoyed the journey!

Amber


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

~~LoLu~~

Lucy slumped back in a pretty chair she'd created out of the ether that made up most of the spirit realm, and sighed blissfully – and yawned, as well. Getting her stuff from her grouchy old landlady hadn't been easy; the woman had blustered quite stubbornly about her right to keep it all after her rent being left unpaid for so long.

But Loke to the rescue – somehow, he'd managed to talk the cranky old lady down, and after the back rent was paid, she'd left them alone to do the packing. She was sure to make Lucy understand that nothing that had been in the room when she'd rented it was to be taken, but at that, the young spirit informed her that her new home was much, much more well appointed – and that she owned it. All she was taking was personal belongings, and things she'd purchased since leaving home.

She'd dared a slightly triumphant smile at the landlady's obvious disgruntlement when she saw the huge case of jewel the young woman had inherited finally, upon the sale of her old home. She'd only maintained control of the one part at the edge of the old estate that held the graves of her parents – everything else had a new owner, and Lucy was happy for that.

But now that the move was accomplished, and only a little more decorating was left, the others had gone to their own constellations to catch up on some rest, while she – sort of – did the same. But Lucy was a bit too unsettled in her new abode to be entirely ready to stop and go to bed... when she had tasks left undone, they nagged at the back of her mind until it drove her crazy. So she'd decided to take a sit down for a few, and then continue settling the rest where she wanted it.

Even Loke had gone home for the evening, letting her know that she needed a little time alone to straighten out not only her home, but everything that had happened to her in the last few months. Her entire life had changed, and he didn't want to crowd her while her world settled itself into its new configuration. Lucy had rolled her eyes – oh, yes, he did too want to crowd her, and she knew exactly how, too. She couldn't deny that she also desired it. But it could definitely wait for a much better time than when they were both still a little overwhelmed with recent happenings.

"Though... I do wonder how in the _world_ Loke's being so patient. I didn't think he'd be able to keep himself in check for this long."

She didn't realize that she'd said that aloud until a soft voice responded, though not with an answer to her question.

Lucy turned her head and straightened up in her chair, staring with slight surprise at the woman who had appeared behind her; it didn't take her long to figure out that this must be Cassiopeia herself, and her heart instantly ached for the fear that lay at the back of the female spirit's eyes, and the haunted expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry for entering unannounced," Cepheus' wife finally managed to get out softly, her cheeks a bit red, and her eyes now downcast. "But I had to come and thank you for the mercy you've shown my husband." She sighed, still looking anywhere but at Lucy. "What he did, right or wrong, was for me, and if something had happened to him because of... well, I don't think I could have lived with the guilt. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. If you ever need _anything,_ just let me know, and I'll be glad to help."

Lucy stopped her there. "Hey, I only did what was right. How could I hold a grudge because your husband loves you, and was willing to do anything to bring you justice... even if he went about it in the wrong way?" She shook her head rapidly after a moment, noting the other woman's uncertain and shamed demeanor. Oh, yes, Lucy was absolutely certain, watching her, that she had indeed been forced by her owner. She'd seen the look before on other victims of the same, and she herself... well, if Loke hadn't come along and stopped those two mages that had grabbed her that time just before she'd saved his life, she'd be feeling the same as Cassiopeia obviously was.

She felt absolutely terrible for the poor woman, and made a vow to herself to help her recover as much as she could.

"Oh, forgive my poor manners!" she cried suddenly, annoyed with herself when she realized she'd drifted off there for a few moments, leaving the other woman fidgeting and unable to hide her deepening uneasiness.

 _Honestly, Lucy,_ she chided herself. _You've got to stop doing that._ She'd been raised better than that, and her father would have scolded her for her inattention. As Lady Heartfilia, she'd been taught all the correct forms for dealing with any kind of social interaction, and so she ushered the surprised woman to another overstuffed, comfy chair, and sat her down.

"Would you like a little spirit wine? I have some – a housewarming gift from Loke," she smiled, then blushed a little at the slight, knowing smile that piece of information coaxed from the other spirit's lips.

"That would be nice, thank you," she replied softly, though she still seemed to find it difficult to meet her eyes.

Of course, that was no surprise, and Lucy didn't feel slighted in the least, understanding perfectly.

 _Even though Loke saved me from that same end, it was still kind of hard at first to look him in the eye, too. I was so ashamed about what almost happened to me, that I know it would have been a thousand times worse if he hadn't stopped those two horrible men when he did._

 _Maybe... maybe I should tell her about that, let her know that I understand. It might help make her feel a little more comfortable._

Lucy pondered that as she puttered around, adopting a light, friendly manner in her desire to put the other woman at ease as much as possible.

Whatever it took, she was determined to make a friend of Cassiopeia, and so Lucy set about doing just that in her usual fashion –with that same caring, sweet compassion that always melted everyone's hearts – especially Loke's.

~LoLu~

A day later, a much better rested and happier Lucy decided to take a nice, hot soak under the stars in the outdoor bath she'd made. She shimmered for a few seconds and then reappeared, this time nude, and walked through her home fully unconcerned with being so. After the unannounced - though not necessarily unwelcome - _visits_ the last few days, she'd made sure that she put up a sort of barrier around her house so that she would be notified of who was trying to get in. It gave her confidence in her privacy, because she would have to actively allow the person entrance.

With an eager smile, she stepped out her patio doors, and stopped to enjoy the view for a moment, which was stunning.

The area was softly lit with lights of nearly any color you could imagine from the stars and nebulae surrounding her personal space, and the ground was laid with marble flooring that went to the waters edge and then descended into it in a broad, shallow sweep of steps. The water was whatever temperature Lucy wanted it, and was enclosed by walls that were about three feet higher than the water level. At one end, there was a small waterfall, just high enough for a person to stand under it and rinse if they so wished. There were vining plants here and there around it, climbing artfully placed rocks, giving the area a natural ambiance that Lucy adored. It was gorgeous, and she was quite pleased with herself.

She'd done a beautiful job creating this place, if she did say so herself.

Smile widening, she stepped toward the suddenly steaming water, and began to descend slowly into it, her thoughts beginning to go other places as the hot water crept up her body. She paused and looked around again, her smile softening and going a little dreamy. _Loke... he'll love this,_ she thought, not even a tiny bit uncertain. She _had_ showed him around her home yesterday, yes, but for some reason, she hadn't brought him out here.

 _That's okay... it'll be a nice surprise..._

A certain energy pinged against her shield for a moment, almost like knocking, and Lucy's smile once more changed. _Well, think of the devil, and he shall appear, as they say._

It was her lion, and she let her barrier go passive, allowing him entrance before closing it again. This time, they wouldn't be interrupted by people just popping in. There were some things they needed to take care of... things that no one _else_ needed to know about.

Loke homed in on her energy and shimmered into place behind her, but when he had fully materialized, Lucy heard a sharp inhale, and then a - rather garbled - expletive. Still standing just under knee deep on the steps into her bath, with steam curling around her and little twinkling star ornaments in her upswept hair, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder at the man she had loved for what seemed like forever. There was a slow, sultry, soft sort of heat about that gaze, and Leo, who abruptly came back to himself as she moved, suddenly whipped himself around to stare with wide eyes at anything _other_ than what he'd just seen, words of apology and remorse stumbling from his lips in a dazed chatter.

That was, until he heard a small chuckle, and then her warm voice. That shut him up instantly.

"It's okay, Loke, you can turn around. If I hadn't wanted you to see, I just wouldn't have let you in. Why don't you take those clothes off and join me?" she asked, her voice husky, though a trifle shy, as well.

Loke hissed through his teeth at what that voice did to him; his blood thickened in his veins and a heated flush swept his entire body. It _hurt,_ the arousal that hit him so fast, but he held himself in place and didn't turn around. Despite what had almost happened between them yesterday, he wanted to hear it straight from her now that he was approaching this situation with clearer eyes, because he didn't want to make Lucy feel as though she had to give him more than she was really ready for yet. There was no going back from this if they followed through on her invitation, and he never wanted her to regret anything about her first time. _Their_ first time.

"Lucy," he began slowly, forcing himself to speak through a throat tight with denied want, "are you _positive_? I don't want you to regret this later. You don't have to do this. I'll wait until you're ready, no matter how long that is."

The blonde, still smiling though it was slightly pensive now, looked forward again as she considered his words. "You know, Natsu once made a comment about all the women you've been with, and asked if it bothered me. At the time, I said yes... but now, I find I've changed my mind. Do you want to know why?"

The ageless man behind her blinked, a little taken aback at the seemingly non-sequitur question he'd just been asked, although he remembered that she'd mentioned something about those other girls yesterday. Then he winced, the reminder of his playboy past rather unwelcome at the current time. But he answered her anyway, unable to deny her anything.

"... Yes?"

"It's because the difference between how you behaved with them, and how you are with me, lets me know that you really _do_ care about me, and don't want to hurt me."

Now a little confused, Loke half-turned and glanced at the woman still standing where she'd been when he'd first appeared, a certain tension in his shoulders.

"What?"

She turned her head again and looked at him, heat still visible in her eyes, sending a shiver down Loke's spine as he waited for her to explain. He kept his eyes pinned to hers, suddenly feeling rather vulnerable - in a way he'd never been before. Surprisingly (or maybe not), that didn't scare him, because he knew that Lucy would never use someone's feelings against them, or betray a trust.

"Before, you never hesitated to use whatever seductive tactic you needed to get what you wanted from a girl, even if she was somewhat hesitant, though I know you would never _force_ the issue if she told you no. But here, with both of us standing beneath the stars in a beautiful place almost made for seduction, truthfully," she sighed, "though that wasn't my intention when I created it, you hold back. You want to make _certain_ that I want this – because you care about my feelings and don't want me to do anything I'm not ready for. _That's_ why."

It was silent for several long moments as Loke digested her words. In the end, what was there to say? She wasn't wrong. He'd never hesitated at any woman's invitation. _Before._ Though now he only wanted Lucy, he needed her to be completely, unquestionably certain about where they were about to go before he acted.

"You're right," he admitted. "So, let me ask again... are you _sure_ you're ready for this? There's no going back. If we do this, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to recover if you later decide you don't want me."

Lucy went absolutely still at that. "What?" she questioned him, her voice wavering, and in her eyes he could see that he'd hurt her with his doubts.

His last few, desperate defenses fell then, allowing his most basic truth out. It was the first time he'd dared admit it aloud, even just to himself.

"No, that's not nearly honest enough," he said huskily, shoving his hands in his pockets as his gaze went far away for a moment, turning wistful and a little sad as he looked into the possibility of a future without her.

The very idea was anathema to him.

"I really _wouldn't_ recover – even now, before we take that step. Your feelings - or lack of them - don't change mine, and they never will. I will always love you, Lucy," he reiterated what he'd told her yesterday, only now, he let _all_ of his feelings out where she could finally and fully see them.

There was a small splashing sound of water as the young woman moved, and then she was there, reaching up a hand to tug him gently around to fully face her. She studied the vulnerable expression that lay on the lion's fair features for a few seconds with a solemn silence, and then she smiled softly, banishing the darkness of those particular thoughts with her next words.

"That's not going to happen, Loke. I'm more than sure – I've known for a long time what I wanted to have with you. I just never thought you would return those feelings, so I've kept them locked away. But you said you love me. And I... I believe you, because I trust you not to lie to me just to use me in such a manner. Am I nervous about this? _Stars_ yes, but so is most every girl at some point or another in their lives. I _am_ sure, though, that you're who I want to share this journey with, and no one else," she added when he still looked slightly uncertain.

She stood there quietly for several wordless seconds and let him search her gaze for the assurance that she really wasn't going to change her mind, and then a breathtaking smile crossed his face, and his hesitance vanished.

" _Lucy..."_ he breathed, his eyes falling closed in sheer, relieved elation. "I love you, so very, very much. You have no _idea,_ and there are no words _-_ "

"Then why don't you just _show_ me, Loke?"

Fumbling and almost made clumsy by his need and her invitation, along with the love he could see in her eyes now when she looked at him, he grasped at her with greedy fingers. He pulled her up against him and into a torrid kiss full of all the things he felt so deeply, yet couldn't find a way to truly articulate. Lucy met him easily, murmuring into the kiss words he couldn't quite hear, but still understood anyway.

The lion almost felt as though he had died and managed - despite all his sins - to sneak his way into heaven, as she allowed him to crush her entirely nude (and very distracting) person to his body for the first time, ever. He savored the feeling, wanting to fully enjoy these moments that would never come again, to inscribe them indelibly into his memory. They had forever now, yes, but _this_ , their first time together, was more precious to him than anything else ever had been, and he never wanted to forget even a second of what was to come.

Already seeing stars exploding behind her eyelids, Lucy melted into the man holding her so closely, helplessly undone before the quiet reverence now apparent in his kiss. She had never been so happy in her entire life, and she was almost a little afraid that something would reach out and tear him away from her because of that. There hadn't been anything else she'd ever wanted _nearly_ this much...

"Lucy," he whispered, pulling back a little and then kissing her again, and again, tasting her lips repeatedly and thoroughly before forcing himself to call a temporary halt. He needed to calm down, because he wanted her to _also_ remember this day forever, to hold it sacred in her memories for the rest of time.

He let go his grip on her, breathing in deeply, determined to do things the right way with her. This was forever, after all.

She certainly wasn't making it easy, though.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking at him with innocent, yet still wanting eyes – making him that much more desperate for her. He let his own eyes fall closed, and continued just breathing in deeply for a few seconds, fighting himself harder than he'd ever had to before.

"I'm sorry," she offered softly, and with a touch of hurt in her voice, not sure what she'd done to make him leave her arms like that.

His eyes sprang open again as soon as he heard her. "For what?" he managed to ask relatively evenly, his voice thick with desire.

"I don't know what I'm doing, h-how to please you. I've never, well, you know, and-"

He cut her stammered explanation off right there.

"I know. Believe me, that isn't the problem. I just... want you _too_ much. Don't ever look at me with doubt like that, Lucy," he added after a short pause. "I'm trying to control myself right now, and it's harder than it's ever been before." He met her gaze, seeing the question still there, and shook his head, sighing. He couldn't help but wonder why she would even doubt herself in this situation at all. Who, seeing her, especially in _this_ state, would _not_ be turned into a lustful animal?

She was perfect... so he told her so.

"You're the most perfect thing I've ever seen. But this is our first time, and I want it to be as perfect as you are. So, why don't you step back into the water, and I'll join you there? We have as much time as we need, more than enough to take this slowly." His eyes, already serious, gained in intensity as he willed her to understand everything he couldn't quite find the words for at the moment. Apparently, he was successful, because she exhaled shakily and nodded, doing as he'd asked without argument.

As she turned away, Loke swallowed hard and slapped a leash on his body, determined to do this the way _he_ wanted, and not be driven by his base desires. _Fast and greedy is for later, stupid,_ he chastised himself inwardly as he allowed his clothes to disappear so that he could follow her into the bath, _now is for slow and sultry and sweet._

After one last deep inhale, then exhale, Loke looked up, only to find her sitting in the water, but with her knees drawn up and her arms around them. She still looked a trifle hesitant, even after his words, almost seeming to be afraid to meet his eyes, and his own softened on her with deep affection. _Such a mass of contradictions, bold one moment, and shy the next. Oh, Lucy, I really do adore you._

He glanced down at himself ruefully, at that part of him that was quite enthusiastically proclaiming said affection – and desire – and almost chuckled.

 _Well, maybe this will convince her._

"Lucy, look at me," he commanded in a soft, indolent tone.

When she obeyed, eyes widening a great deal when she took in his 'condition', he continued.

"A lot of things can be faked under these sorts of circumstances, love, but _this,"_ he indicated his bold arousal with a tilt of his head, "isn't one of them. Don't you know by _now_ how very much I want you, _all the time?_ "

Eyes still wide and with a blush darkening her cheeks, the young woman dazedly shook her head. "Umm..."

"Then I guess I'll just have to convince you," Loke shrugged, not letting her finish whatever she'd been about to say. "No skin off my nose, really," he sent her a lopsided smile. "I'm going to enjoy this very, _very_ much."

The smile suddenly shifted into a mischievous grin.

"And I aim to make sure you do, too – whatever that takes."

~LoLu~

A/N: So, yeah... cliffie. Lemon-scented, even. But this was going to be far too long if I finished everything in this chapter – and I guess that means you can just consider this an extra chapter, one I hadn't planned on in the beginning. Besides, I needed to post _something,_ considering I about had a heart attack when I saw the date of my last post on this. I hadn't realized it had been that long – it still doesn't seem that way to me. I thought it had been a month and a half, tops. And all that means that next chapter is pretty much nothing but lemon. :(( (I still hate writing them.)

Anyway, that's enough talkin', I'm out. Got to get to work on the rest of this thing, because I have a very _long_ and _detailed_ story in the works, and I'd like to get at least _one_ of my currently open projects put to bed before I really start on that.

Peace out-

Amber


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Loke studied Lucy through slitted eyes as he began to move, stepping confidently into the hot water of her 'bath'. His nostrils flared a little as he throttled his need and slowed his breathing even further than he had already, giving himself a rather fierce appearance he wasn't really aware of.

But it didn't bother the blonde woman at all; she wasn't afraid of him in any way, because she already knew he would never harm her. No, the only thing _that_ expression pulled forth was a delicious shiver that shot a hot spark straight down her spine. She suddenly felt shaky and a little overexcited as the lion slowly stalking towards her got closer, moving deeper into the water with an easy grace any king would have scowled with envy at.

He pushed forward with slow, deliberate speed through the relatively shallow water, casually taking a seat next to her before reaching over, and gently pulling her closer to him. He kept his approach tender for the moment, not wanting to make her more nervous than she had already admitted she was. Things would go much more smoothly if he kept his tactics to a soft seduction rather than his own fierce desire, and he was well aware of it. And despite his own screaming need of her, and the toll that frustrated need would take on his body, he didn't begrudge her that fact.

She was new at this, and he found himself rather hypocritically glad of it. She would never know any other man's touch, and the animalistic possessiveness he already felt towards her crowed loudly at that realization. That feeling only strengthened as he felt her delicate shiver as she slowly came to rest against his side, and he smiled inwardly.

It was a dark, triumphant male smile, and it was perhaps a good thing that it didn't actually appear on his face, because he was almost positive that if Lucy _had_ seen it, she would have smacked him. As it was, she hadn't yet looked up at him, still apparently getting used to the feeling of being so close to him in such a way. He could feel the shiver turn to an eager, yet still shy trembling as it chased itself through her entire body, and he was finding it an increasingly difficult thing to keep that wicked grin from finding its way onto his face.

But he did somehow, and when Lucy still hadn't looked up at him after a few more seconds, he nudged his chin gently against her soft hair.

"Hey... are you going to be okay?" he managed to ask, surprisingly calmly for his true state of high excitement.

That got her attention, causing her to lift her head and glance – still a _little_ shyly - up at him, not quite meeting his eyes. But she smiled, though her lips trembled a tiny bit, and nodded.

She drew in a deep breath and firmly unclenched every nervously tensed muscle in her body, and with a determination in the face of adversity (if you could truly call _this_ situation adverse) that he'd frequently seen from her before, she settled closer into his side, pressing her body to his and quite deliberately relaxing into the contact.

He swallowed heavily as she rested against his side, silent, though he could tell she was almost hyperaware of him in the very fine tremors still running occasionally through her. _Well, and here I am, Leo of the thousand virgins, as she once called me so very sarcastically, just as nervous and aware of her – as though I'm new at this, too._

 _And if that's not laughable, I don't know what is,_ he decided wryly, with a self-deprecation that wasn't entirely a joke. His past with women was known by both of them as well as many others, and he wasn't certain Lucy would quite believe him if he admitted aloud the nervousness her nearness was causing him.

He chose to say it anyway.

"You know, it's rather funny, but you would never believe how nervous I am right now," he finally murmured; being honest with her was really his best bet. He didn't want her to ever think he wasn't - down that road, only heartbreak lay, and he knew it.

Loke waited with bated breath for her answer. He wondered what she'd say to his quiet confidence. Would she respond with solemn but affectionate eyes, or would she laugh as though at a joke? It would only be his own fault if she did, but stars, he hoped she didn't.

Once again she managed to take him by surprise; it seemed a a particular talent of hers in regards to him, for this was certainly _not_ the first time she'd done it.

"Why?" she asked, finally meeting his gaze with her own curious one.

 _Will she ever stop surprising me in one way or another? Stars, I hope not._ "I don't want to mess this up," he replied when he was able to gather his voice again from the depths it kept trying to get lost in. "I know this is your first time, and it's _our_ first time. I want it to be absolutely perfect."

That caused her to giggle at him, once more taking him off-guard. "I'm with you, silly. It doesn't matter what you do, it'll be perfect regardless. _I'm_ the one that should be nervous in that regard – that I'll fail to please you, I mean. I... I don't know any of this, and I don't want to chase you away because I couldn't measure up," she finished candidly, wanting to be honest with him despite her embarrassment.

At that, _he_ outright laughed. "Okay, so we're both being a little ridiculous about this, then. That makes me feel a bit better. So... nothing more need be said on that topic – lets move on, shall we?"

Lucy nodded.

In that spirit, he moved to look down at her, tucked into his side as she was, and tugged her a little closer. When her wide eyes met his with a nervous but tender sort of bravery that was just Lucy, in his mind, he tilted his head and slowly took her lips with his in a soft kiss that slowly built into something far more.

While his body battled his will, Loke's mind slowed and calmed. The large pool of heated water was – under normal circumstances – indeed suited for seduction, as she'd said, but it wasn't really ideal for their particular needs... especially this time. The water would only dry her body of what it needed to be ready for his, and he couldn't even fathom hurting her in any way, especially in _that_ way. So while it was okay for the moment, he needed to decide where to move her soon. When he pulled back from the kiss to draw a desperate breath and allow her to do so, as well, he quickly glanced around.

Truthfully, he didn't want to go into the house. While also beautiful, it wasn't as breathtaking as the skies above them, and with a sort of romantic tenderness he'd never experienced before, he wanted to join with her beneath the stars that defined their very world, and even who they were. It didn't take but a moment, and he decided that the very comfortable-looking lounges at the side of her bathing pool would do quite well for their planned activities, and wouldn't require him to take her very far – which was a good thing, because he wasn't sure he could have gotten them much further than that in his current condition.

Mind eased on that score, he once more focused on the blonde goddess in his arms, and he kissed her again, this time letting himself fall into it completely. That was as much planning as he could stand – he wanted to let himself go, to act and react freely as their hearts and minds led them down this new path.

"Lucy," he whispered, and it was more an affirmation of the fact that she was really in his arms rather than him trying to gain her attention. She seemed to know it, and responded in kind with the same from her lips, her, "Loke," in return just as breathless – and just as much an affirmation. But it drew the lion in ways he didn't understand, and his response was physical and instantaneous; he slowly swept his hands down her arms before letting them fall to her hips, where he grasped her only to pull her even closer.

With nowhere else to go, she followed his tug and ended up perched on his lap with her own arms wrapped around his neck. They both let out gasps as his turgid need pressed intimately into her sweet arousal, and with a broken moan, Loke nudged her head back and began laying needy kisses and desperate nips to the skin of her neck as his hips thrust helplessly up against her. Lucy almost choked on a shocked inhale at how good his lips against the skin of her neck felt. She had never realized that a few lovely nibbles and gentle bites at her pulse would feel so wondrously enervating, never guessed that area of her body was so sensitive.

From there, what followed was almost dreamlike to the young woman. Loke took her up the highest peaks and over the edges several times, free-falling with her over and over. As Lucy once more inhaled desperately, trying to find her mind through all the torrents of pleasure he'd so far introduced her to, the man holding her suddenly stood. He was simply unable to wait any longer to further her pleasure, to taste her, to join with her and experience a oneness that he'd honestly begun to believe he'd never find.

He'd truly been the lonely lion, so deeply alone, that he'd long since lost hope of ever finding love for himself. And, oh, how ironic it was, that until he'd stopped searching and given up, he hadn't.

With purposeful but still tender firmness, he lifted her as he stood and headed up the steps. He strode over to the closest of the loungers, settling her gently down on it only to stop, arrested, as his wanting eyes swept slowly over the abandoned picture she made. It sent a thrill straight down his spine and into his aching groin, that it was _he_ that had made her look like that, _he_ that she had chosen, only _he_ that would ever see her this way. After a few moments of just taking her in, of allowing that knowledge and the image she made to settle indelibly into his memories, he followed her down, hovering over her and once more beginning to sweep her into the sweet madness of desire with his touch.

"So beautiful," he murmured into the kisses he began laying across her now-sensitized skin, from her neck across the soft protuberances of her collarbone, rolling his tongue down into the hollow of her throat as he came to it, and then nipping her more strongly right at its base. She seemed to like that slightly rougher touch, moaning deeply and arching more firmly into the contact as his teeth marked her soft skin.

Loke was awed by her, and the way she made him feel. It was unlike anything else he'd ever known.

He pulled back a little, once more allowing his eyes to drift over her, wherever they willed. She was truly a sight to see; she glowed golden in the light of the heavens, her arms thrown haphazardly up beside her head. Her eyes were slitted and heavy with erotic abandon as she openly reveled in his touch.

She arched once more into him and _purred,_ and his eyes shifted without him even realizing it, from their normal color, to slit-pupiled and as golden as she was.

"Fuck," he breathed, before burying his mouth in her skin again, dragging his lips ever closer to her breasts in teasing spirals. But the teasing promptly lost itself to frantic desire as she arched into his touch yet again, her breathless pleas and obvious need of him stripping him of any ability to think of anything other than her. It was enough to strip him of anything resembling civilized thinking for the rest of his _life._

When his mouth opened over a tightly furled nipple, Lucy moaned decadently and twisted her body upwards, desperately trying to get closer to him... to get as close as she possibly could. But no matter how close he got, it wasn't close enough, and she whimpered beneath his daring tongue as he traced the lines of her body with his hot mouth.

" _Please,_ Loke, please, oh stars, _please,_ " she sobbed finally, and the lion pulled slightly away from her to meet her pleading gaze with his own impassioned one. She stared at him through unfocused eyes, completely lost to his touch, and not even trying to hide it. The sight undid him all the way down to his soul, his deepest desires coming to life right before him, leaving him open to her in a way he would never have allowed with anyone else.

Nothing in his entire life had prepared him for what he was experiencing right then, but he didn't let that stop him; instead, the heartfelt humility and gratitude he felt towards her only pushed him into slowing things down once more. A molten heat, heavy with the taste of sultry summer nights, washed over him from head to toe, and he shivered. His lips became even more adventurous, his determination to make her feel all this as deeply as he was driving him to move once again down her soft skin, towards her all-consuming heat.

He paused on his journey down her torso to dip his tongue into her navel, and then kissed her on the sensitive skin just below it. The soft kiss became a slow caress of the tender skin, one that caused Lucy to cry out breathlessly, his name the only thing she seemed able to articulate in the moment.

It was enough.

No. It was _more_ than enough.

With a slightly devious smile, he stopped at the line where hip met thigh and lingered there for several seconds, tracing that flesh with his hot tongue. When she shuddered heavily and tensed, he moved over and repeated his teasing touch on her other side, feeling a rush of pleasure that surged straight down his spine and culminated in his already painful groin at her response.

Unable to hold out against her intoxicating scent any longer, he slid down further and ran his tongue boldly up her center, reveling in the taste of her arousal as she tensed almost violently and choked on an indrawn breath. He'd never have believed it possible, but as her taste registered on his tongue, he was stunned to realize that she tasted even better than her scent gave away.

She was simply divine. There were no other words, and he didn't even try to find any, concentrating fully on her and her pleasure. As his tongue reached the end of her and found that wonderful little bundle of nerves all women had, she tensed so quickly and completely that Loke almost worried that she'd hurt herself. But her breathless cries of rapture gave the truth away, and so he continued, playing between that spot and her opening, alternating the strokes of his tongue as she shivered and moaned and even screamed beneath him.

He wondered idly, in the back of his mind, if she was more sensitive than other women, because he'd never seen any woman react with such open abandonment before. Whatever the case, her reactions were overriding his careful control faster than he'd ever have suspected was possible, her taste on his tongue like honey – thick and sweet. He groaned, his body trembling with fierce desire – and then she reached down and grabbed his hair, fisting her hands in it, and unable to stop himself any longer, he slipped a careful finger inside her.

That was all it took, and as he watched in awe, she came apart.

A fierce need ripped through him, then, at the feel of her curled around his digit. Hot, wet, and clenching tightly on him as she shuddered with her pleasure, Loke matched her choked off moan, and took one last, decadent lick of her before slipping another finger inside her molten heat, needing to stretch her body in preparation for his turgid need. Her response was everything that he could have hoped for, her body beginning to coil tightly around his fingers once more as she ascended the heights yet again. Within moments, it seemed, she was coming even more fiercely, and Loke watched it all, never wanting to forget a single second. He'd never had a more responsive lover.

 _That's because she loves you, stupid,_ his mind supplied, _and you love her. You've never wanted any other woman nearly this much, either. And that's because_ _you_ _love_ _her_ _. Welcome to reality. Isn't it so much better this way?_

Oh, yes. No question. And if this was what he had to look forward to for the rest of eternity, then he could not be more thankful that he'd met her, that she'd saved him from an ignominious death as an exile, and then saved him from himself and his self-destructive habits. Gratitude and love swelled in his heart, and his gaze softened upon her with deep and abiding affection.

"I love you," he whispered, not even caring if she heard him or not. He would prove how much he loved her, tonight and for the rest of eternity, by the care he took with her, in _all_ aspects of their lives. "I love you _so much_."

Lucy was in pain. Despite the climaxes she'd just experienced, the tension hadn't eased from her body, and indeed, she was now even more desperate for him to join with her. She'd never have suspected that being caressed like that with someone's tongue would feel so exquisite, but it had, and the fingers that he was still moving slowly inside her, working her through her orgasm, were only causing her to tense up even more. But when he slipped yet another finger inside, stretching her as much as possible so that she would be able to take him, her body jerked violently and took control. She ripped her hands from his hair and grasped desperately at his shoulders, instead, trying to pull him closer to her.

"Loke, _please_ ," she begged, her throat tight and making words almost impossible.

Unable to withstand her pleading voice any longer, he withdrew his fingers, and with her needy eyes watching him, he licked them clean, a pleased purr rumbling from his chest. Her hands tightened on his shoulders involuntarily at that, and Loke knew it was time – neither one of them could take anymore teasing. He moved to hover above her as he stroked her soft skin with one hand, gentling her down from the heights, all so that he could take her there once more.

Only now, he would join her.

"Are you _sure_?" he asked her one last time. He had to be completely certain she wanted the rest of this, despite her reactions so far giving away her enjoyment of his touch. As he'd said before, there was no turning back if they finished this, and it would kill him if she ended up looking back on this night with regret.

She whimpered, unable to find the words to answer him, but nodded and tugged at him, and Loke groaned. Now as assured of her continuing desire as he could ever be, he finally allowed himself to lay against her fully as he reached down and took ahold of his bold arousal. Pressing himself into place, he hissed, the feel of her heat and softness against his sensitive head wearing away what little control he still had.

Determined to get her pain over with as quickly as possible, he held her steady with one hand on her hip, and with his own body screaming with his need, he thrust gently but firmly into her, taking her in one steady, yet careful thrust.

White-hot pleasure broke over him as her body accepted his, filling his mind and pushing any chance for him to remain coherent away. She arched up into him with a soft wail, drawing her legs up around him and accepting him fully into her body quite eagerly.

Pleasure and pain crashed through Lucy, but she was too far gone to distinguish between the two as she automatically tightened around the intrusion. Her resounding cry echoed his desperate groan, and both stilled momentarily as they adjusted to the feel of the other.

But then that moment passed, and Loke drew back, then thrust into her again, and her mind became consumed with fire. Nothing more than his name made it passed her lips, broken and pleading, but Loke responded to the need that filled her voice. He sped up a little, setting a steady pace of thrusts, and she tried to match them with her own movements. It was perfect, and sacred, and oh, so pleasurable, and the lion leaned down to take her lips with his own, needing to taste her sweet mouth more than he'd ever thought it possible to need anything once upon a time.

The river was burning. There was a fire in her blood, a desperation that was addicting even as it overwhelmed. With his every advance and retreat she writhed, wondering how anything could be so painful, and yet feel so _good_ at the same time. Every movement of his body in hers increased that strange mix of feelings, and as he sped up, she thought, rather frantically, that she was going to pass out if this got the slightest bit more intense. She could clearly understand now why orgasm was called 'the little death'. If it was, then it was the sweetest death she could ever think of, and she'd gladly go to her doom while singing her lion's praises as she went.

His kiss only furthered her rapture, a desperate clashing of teeth and tongue and _desire,_ and Lucy dug her nails even further into him, needing that grip to keep her grounded in reality. Because gods knew, reality had never been so glorious as it was right now, with his body shuddering as he slipped in and out of her, faster and faster as the last of his control fled, and she never wanted to forget any of this.

Unable to stand any more stimulation, Loke's eyes fell closed and he growled against her lips as he sped up yet again, reaching deeper inside her with every thrust. She clenched so tightly around him, so sweetly, that she thoroughly undid him without even trying. Her gasps and moans and cries were music to his ears, and he could tell that she was about to fall over the brink once more – which was a good thing, because he was certain that he would not be able to last much longer. Already, he could feel his core muscles tightening, and as Lucy's wordless keening reached his ears, his rhythm began to falter.

"Lucy," he rumbled, throat tight, "come for me, love. Let go."

And just as his words reached her ears, she did.

A long-drawn out cry resounded as she fell, her body gripping at his turgid manhood even tighter, and that was all it took to send him over the brink, as well. With a loud cry full of satisfaction and joy and _incredible_ pleasure, he followed her over the edge and straight into the most wonderful madness that had ever existed. Fireworks exploded in his brain, rendering him mute as his climax drew out every bit of energy he had, and as the pleasure crested and then finally began to ease, he slumped above Lucy, suddenly more exhausted than he could ever remember being.

But it was a glorious exhaustion, one that was shared by his love, if the way she went limp beneath him was any indication. As the fire finally receded from his mind and his breathing steadied, he slowly - and rather reluctantly - disengaged from her, and rolled to lay beside her, one arm thrown over his face and hiding his eyes as he closed them.

Lolling almost bonelessly there beside her in the aftermath, he grinned slowly, opening his eyes when his love rolled over to lay cuddled against him with her head upon his chest. He dropped his arm to pull her even closer against him, enjoying the feel of her naked flesh pressed so easily to his own more than he'd even imagined. And he had imagined a _lot_ , he would be lying if he tried to deny it. But the reality was so much better...

It was then that he remembered that they weren't in a bed, but on a poolside lounge. _Well, I suppose it's a good thing she made them so big, otherwise I'd have fallen right off. What a way to mess up the afterglow_ _that_ _would have been,_ he thought wryly. She'd always had a detrimental effect on his brain, making it almost impossible to think straight when he was around her, but this pretty much topped everything. She'd rendered him completely forgetful of anything but her – her sounds and movements and wondrous, tightly gripping body – and that had certainly never happened to him before, despite all his previous experiences.

"You know," Lucy's soft voice broke into his musings, "you're lucky you didn't fall. It's a good thing I sort of had this kind of circumstance in mind when I made these lounges bigger and softer than most, or you might have ended up with a very bruised backside... and ego."

She chuckled as she said it, and Loke couldn't help his grin turning wicked as he looked down at her.

"So you were thinking about me and _this_ and planning accordingly, were you?" he teased. "I knew you couldn't resist me!"

His response was a small hand slapping against his chest, and a blush.

"Perve," she threw back at him. "get your mind out of the gutter, you. Don't make me regret it."

Though her words were teasing, they sobered him.

" _Will_ you ever regret this?" he couldn't help but to ask.

As his question reached her ears, she raised her head and looked at him, studying his face for several long, wordless seconds. And then the most beautiful, radiant smile he'd ever been gifted by her lit up her face, and she slowly shook her head.

"No. As long as the river flows in my veins and Regulus glows beneath your skin, I will remember, Loke. I promise."

Unable to help himself, his arms tightened convulsively around her as her words threatened to unman him. How did she always manage to do this to him? She tore him to pieces with the simplest of words... and he could not even bring himself to care.

He pressed a fervent kiss to the top of her head, losing himself in the softness of her hair, the scent that would always be Lucy in his mind lulling him, tempting him into forgetting his lingering fears and relaxing against her once more.

Snuggling even closer to her, he finally allowed himself to drift off with one last, fleeting thought, soothed by the slow, even exhalations of his love as she, too, fell into sleep.

" _So will I, love... so will I. Even when the stars forget eternity and lose their glow, I will hold this memory sacred in my heart and mind forever."_

A/N: Well, what do you know? It's only been a couple weeks and I'm posting on this again. I am so close to DONE with this story and I'm so happy! Hope everyone else is, too.


	28. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

~~LoLu~~

The dream of waking up next to Lucy after a night full of passion had entertained Loke's imagination more times than he could count. But the idea had been something that he'd never believed would truly come to pass, so when he woke that morning in a different place than his own bed, it took a few before he realized, _this is actually happening! I'm really..._

 _I'm really, really lucky, the most lucky bastard there's ever been,_ he realized, looking carefully down at the blonde woman still sprawled over his chest, so that he wouldn't disturb her.

But when his eyes fell on her fair features, hers were already open, and she had the most contented expression on her face that he'd ever seen. When their gazes met, she smiled, and to the lion, it was like the sun coming up on a clear, perfect spring day.

"Good morning," she yawned, blinking the last remnants of sleep out of her eyes. Her voice was so very soft, and it made his heart pound.

"So... I take it that you have no regrets?" he asked, a little tentatively.

A sigh met his continuing uncertainty. "No, Loke, I don't. Were you really afraid that I would?"

"I've long since learned, Lucy, my love, never to take anything for granted," he shrugged slightly. "That's the fastest way to get your heart broken."

She blinked, her stare blank for a moment as she took in his words. And then she scoffed at him. "Oh, please," she chastised, smacking him (gently) on the chest. "When have _you_ ever had your heart broken? The girls couldn't line up fast enough to get a chance at you."

But Loke didn't respond to the playful banter on her part. Instead, his face looked sad, and old pain flashed in his eyes.

The young woman frowned, not sure what was running through his mind.

"Yes, actually, I have," he finally murmured, though his gaze was still fixed on a horizon only he could see.

Intrigued, Lucy prodded him. "When was this?"

"When I thought you had feelings for Natsu," he replied candidly, looking down at her again. He wondered what she'd say to that confidence.

A faint bit of color washed over her cheeks, and then she just seemed sad. Not wanting to turn such a beautiful day as this into one of painful admissions, Lucy touched slender fingers to a cheekbone, and then swept them down towards his chin tenderly.

"Well, I do love Natsu... and Gray, and all my friends," she replied matter-of-factly, as she laid back down across his torso. And then she grinned. "Just not in the same way I love _you_."

"You'd better not," Loke joked a little halfheartedly. "I would have to put a hit on whoever it was."

Lucy hummed, but didn't respond otherwise.

"Hey... not to change the subject, but what was that funny look you gave me when seirei-o mentioned the Joining to you? I've been wondering about that."

Lucy immediately flushed so hotly that the man curled up with her became instantly intrigued as he felt the heat of said blush, and watched her gaze fall away from his with embarrassment.

"Figures you'd remember that," she growled, a tad disgruntled to be having this conversation before they'd even had breakfast.

Or at all, ever.

"Well?" the lion was most certainly _not_ going to let _this_ one slide. It had to be good, if it had his love looking as though she'd just taken a bath so hot as to be scalding.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you must know," she began with (mostly fake) haughty indignation, "my mind flashed to _this_ sort of circumstance when he called it the 'joining'. Happy now that you've made me admit to having naughty thoughts where you are concerned?"

Loke broke out in loud, boisterous, _joyful_ laughter, and Lucy smiled secretively to herself. She loved the sound of that, and always wanted him to be so happy as to laugh freely whenever the mood took him.

"Absolutely. But hey... you can take comfort in knowing that I'm the poor sap who admitted to my feelings first."

Lucy had to give him that. He certainly _had_ admitted his feelings, in a way that was impossible to doubt or refute, and she would never be more grateful for it.

With that thought in mind the young woman sat up, and before her lover could grab for her, swung one long, dangerously bared leg over his groin and sat astride him. Loke's hands came up to grip at her waist and keep her right where she was, because stars knew, last night had only whetted his appetite for her.

The smile she gifted him, then, was just slightly wicked, and most definitely mischievous. It promptly made his entire body tighten in near-instantaneous arousal. _How the hell does she manage to turn me into a lustful animal panting after her with just one move? The woman's a menace!_

Unable to resist, and not really wanting to, Loke slid both hands up her body until he came to her breasts, and then he cupped them.

With a deep groan, Lucy leaned forward enough to kiss him quite thoroughly, and their morning-after ended up being nothing more than an entirely erotic continuation of the previous night's activities.

Not that the lion was complaining, because, boy, was he ever _not._ And considering Lucy's instigation of said activities this time, he was more than assured that she really did have no regrets.

Something that had still been tight around his heart eased, then, and he finally allowed himself to wallow in her affection unrestrained, and unafraid.

~~LoLu~

"What on earth are you lugging around, Loke?"

Leo glanced over his shoulder at his lover, and smiled a little ruefully as she took a good long look at what very much appeared to her to be some sort of armor. "It's a gift for Erza," he responded. "I kind of owe her one... or more than one, when it comes down to it."

Lucy blinked, then blinked again, a little surprised. "Oh? What for?" she asked curiously.

"When you were taken by that bastard Delenn-" his expression became pained, as the memory of all that reminded him of just how lucky he was that she had even survived, "-it came down on me to chase his darkness from you, as you already know. I... didn't want to do it, because it could very well have killed you. I was terrified and definitely not in my right mind. Without Erza's intervention, I might have completely lost it on Natsu. You know how he is, and he just... well, suffice it to say that this-" he nodded down at the last few pieces he had to box up, "-is my way of thanking her for her graceful handling of him."

Seeing the sadness on his face hurt the young woman, so she gave him the only comfort she could – a gentle, tender kiss that washed the hurt from his expression, leaving behind only the fierce love he had for her.

"It's okay, Loke. You saved me by doing that. You gave everything you had, and you succeeded," she murmured against his lips, having pulled back from the kiss just far enough to see him. "I'm here, and I love you. Forget all of that, for me? I hate to see that look on your face..."

"If you hadn't survived, if you'd... I would have followed you, you know. Without one regret. I never want to be apart from you, and especially not like that," he confided. A guilty look settled on his face, then. "I... I know that this whole thing - becoming a spirit - has been difficult for you, and I'm so sorry for that, but I... can't deny that I'm glad that you are, in the sense that I'll never have to lose you now. I wouldn't have been able to stand that. But... if you _had_ stayed human and aged and died, I would have followed you, in the end. Without you, life just doesn't mean anything anymore."

Eyes filling with tears of bittersweet joy, Lucy kissed him again, then leaned her head against his as she caught her breath. "I love you," she whispered, reiterating her earlier words. With that declaration, the sadness and remembered pain he was still carrying was washed from his fair features, and a small, but true smile lit his face. He leaned in to kiss her once more, his expression now filled with the deepest affection. It was a look he'd never given to anyone else, and he never would.

Said kiss got a little heated as the two pressed against each other, and eventually Lucy forced herself to pull away, because if they kept it up, they'd end up landing back in bed instead of going to visit their friends at the guild. She giggled to herself. _Right now, the guild and our friends... but later..._

And then she seemed to realize just what she was thinking. _Well, damn... he's turned me into a nympho!_

Not that it was a bad thing, necessarily, as she was coming to understand after the night – and morning – they'd spent together, but still...

Loke whined a little pitifully as she stepped out of his arms, and tried to grab at her and tug her back into his embrace, but she swatted at his hands, leaving him to give her the most adorable pout she'd ever seen.

"Later, my lion," she managed, since she really didn't want to stop, either. But she wanted to see her friends, and that gave her just enough impetus to keep him at bay – at least for the time being. "We have things to do, remember?" she canted her head down at the boxed up armor, and Loke sighed.

"I know." Then he grinned mischievously, leaving Lucy to eye him with suspicion. "So let's hurry and get the visiting done, so we can come back an-" he was met with a hand in the face and a set expression, and he couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, alright, I get it. But I sure hope _later_ hurries its ass up," he couldn't resist tacking on at the look on her face. "Hey, I've been in love with you for a long time, and it's going to take a while before I calm down, so you'd better get used to it."

At that, Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Who do you think you're lying to? You're never going to _calm down._ "

Loke just shrugged with a happy smile, not at all bothered by being called out on the matter. She was right, after all. He was _never_ going to get enough of her, and that was just fine with him. He would happily spend eternity by her side... and in her bed.

It was Lucy's turn to sigh. "Come on, you. Let's get this done before you decide you're finished waiting for later to get here and crowd me up against the nearest wall, or something."

The two faded out along with the boxed up armor to the tune of a throttled growl from the lion, along with his promise that they'd be trying that idea out as soon as was reasonably possible.

Fortunately for him, his monologue about how he was going to make that idea reality was drowned out as they appeared in the middle of the guildhall, by the welcoming shouts of their friends. They were swarmed almost immediately, and of course, the charge was led by Natsu.

However, the swarm was stopped mid-stride by Salamander's shouted announcement, and in the sudden silence that followed, Lucy turned beet red and furious, while Loke just smiled smugly.

"Jeez, Luce, you smell just like that bastard standing next to you! I figured _he_ couldn't wait to get you into bed, but I didn't think _you'd_ give in that fast!"

That was definitely the end of the silence, but Lucy's screamed, "Natsu, I'm going to _kill_ you!" overrode every other voice, and within seconds, she'd left Loke behind to chase the fire mage down and pound him for humiliating her so badly.

Loke's smile turned into a naughty grin as he watched his girl destroy Natsu, not at all embarrassed himself to be called out in such a public manner on he and Lucy's new relationship. On the contrary, he was quite proud of himself for finally winning the blonde's affections – and her _hot body,_ as Taurus always described it.

"You might want to hide the expression on your face before she finishes attempting to beat sense into the senseless, man, or you might get jumped next," came Gray's voice, but Loke waved his warning off, his grin not easing in the slightest.

"She can jump me any damn time she likes. The more often she does, the better I'll like it."

The ice mage just shook his head with a chuckle, and then glanced at the box Loke was still holding. "What's that?"

At that question, Loke's expression turned a little more serious, and he glanced around, searching for a particular redhead. When he spotted her, he couldn't help but laugh, however. She was trying to talk Lucy down from killing a certain cowering dragon slayer for his loud mouth, but it didn't appear that she was making much headway.

"It's for Erza," he replied after he got his breath back. When Gray cocked an eyebrow at that, clearly waiting for more of an explanation, Loke exhaled and shook his head. "It's just my way of thanking her for keeping Natsu on a leash when I was getting ready to chase Delenn's darkness out of Lucy. I was _way_ too close to the edge to deal with him and all his questions, and I didn't want to lose it, especially in front of Wendy. I didn't know if I'd be able to keep myself from... well, the less said, the better. It's in the past, anyway."

At that, Gray just nodded, and left the matter alone. "So shall I hazard a guess as to what's in the box?"

"It's an easy guess, so go for it," Loke shrugged as he watched more of their friends surround Lucy and Natsu, though Erza finally gave up trying to pacify the infuriated woman and broke away from the group, headed back in their direction.

"Some new armor, huh?"

"Got it in one."

"Not like she doesn't have enough," Gray replied sardonically. "But it's a good bet if you want to gift her with something, because she'll never turn something like that down."

"My thought exactly."

By then, the requip mage had reached them, and the two men turned their attention to her.

"Congratulations on your new relationship with Lucy," she stated in her usual forthright manner, then gave him a small, warning look. "Make sure you do not hurt her, or I will personally chase you down... and you don't want that."

Loke shuddered a little. No, he really, really did not want that. An angry Erza on your tail was _everybody's_ worst nightmare.

"No worries there," he answered her honestly, his eyes going to the love of his life for a few moments before returning to her. "Not to change the subject, but I have something here for you," he said, indicating the box he was holding. He held it out to her, and she took it, looking a little surprised.

"What is this for?"

"Your consideration," Loke answered vaguely, not really wanting to explain again.

She met his eyes at that, and after a moment she nodded, but didn't say anything further, which the lion was quite grateful for. He didn't want to keep revisiting that day, because hands down, despite his many ages of life, _that day_ was the worst he'd ever lived through – and that was saying a lot, considering his three years of exile and near death.

She turned and set the box down on the nearest table, and Loke and Gray moved with her, watching as she opened it and scrutinized its contents. And in the end, Loke was happy with what he'd chosen to give her, her appreciative look in his direction not missing him. With an almost blinding glow of unleashed power, she requiped into her new acquisition with a smile.

"Thank you, my friend," she said, with a small smile of appreciation. "I will most definitely enjoy using your gift for many years to come."

Loke smiled back at her. "You're most welcome."

~LoLu~

It had been a few hours since Lucy and Loke had arrived at the guild, and the initial excitement at their appearance had calmed, the core of Fairy Tail now sitting at one of the big tables talking and drinking – mostly quietly, at least. Even Lucy had eventually mellowed, her frustration at Natsu's big mouth calmed for the most part by the couple of drinks that Loke had bought her, and the beating she'd already given him.

Now, the two were sitting together and simply enjoying being with their friends. But as the conversation turned from one subject to the next, the guild-master spoke up from his spot atop one end of the table.

"That reminds me. During the cleanup of the aftermath of your battle with Vashton – or Cepheus, as you explained - a chest full of silver celestial keys was found. I took responsibility for them and have kept them here in the guild vault until I could ask you two what you wish to be done with them."

At that, Lucy sat bolt upright and looked at Loke with a bit of chagrin. "That's right! I completely forgot about them. Now I feel terrible!"

Loke shook his head dismissively. "Don't. You had much more on your mind at the time, and no one could fault you for that – at least, they won't if they know what's good for them," he tacked on pleasantly, squeezing Lucy's hand. Then he turned his head and addressed Makarov. "I'm glad you found them, and grateful that you've held on to them. We'll take them back with us, and let Seirei-o decide what to do with them."

The guildmaster nodded agreeably. "When you are ready to leave, let me know, and I will retrieve them for you."

Lucy smiled sweetly at him, though a fleeting sadness shone in her eyes for a moment, but when he asked what was wrong, she shook her head. "It's nothing. Just a little tired," she passed it off.

Makarov seemed to sense that there _was_ something bothering her, but that she didn't want to talk about it, and so he inclined his head with a kind smile and let it go.

The moment was immediately forgotten when Natsu, who didn't appear to have learned his lesson earlier, interrupted with, "Yeah, and we all know _why_ ," at which point Lucy gave him such an evil glare, one that was echoed by Erza, that he shrank down and finally decided that maybe he'd be better off keeping his mouth shut.

He'd live a lot longer if he did, that was for certain.

The next voice to be heard was most definitely more welcome at that point in time, as far as Lucy was concerned.

"You know, when I was searching through the guild's library trying to figure out what was wrong with you after you collapsed, I found something quite interesting," Levy began, a rather knowing smile on her face. "There's an ancient prophecy about the two of you, did you know that?"

Lucy looked at her friend, nonplussed. "What?"

"It's true! Well, of course, at first we weren't sure, but as things now stand, it was definitely about you two."

Loke had actually forgotten about that. "Oh, that's right!" he snapped his fingers, a very wicked smile lighting him up as he glanced at Lucy.

Her expression became rather forbidding as she returned his glance. "Do I even want to know?" she asked rhetorically. "With that look on, it must be something dirty."

"No, no, Lu-chan, not _dirty,"_ Levy intoned with a shake of her head. "It's actually very sweet!"

The blonde woman wasn't buying it. "Uh-huh. So why didn't _you_ tell me about it, Loke, since you apparently knew?"

Faced with her disbelief, Loke's expression softened, and his smile filled with gentle affection, instead.

"It's really ancient, love. I'd forgotten about it entirely until Cepheus brought it up. And for that matter, I'd never heard the whole thing, anyway. But I won't deny that when I heard it in full, it gave me hope that at least someday, you'd give me a chance. If you want, I'll have Crux repeat it for you when we get home."

 _Home._

That word brought Lucy up short, and she just nodded, then looked around at all their friends, desperately trying to memorize everything she could. It took almost all of her formidable will to keep the tears from her eyes; she didn't want to upset anyone else with such terrible thoughts, even if she couldn't rid _herself_ of them.

But the fact was that there was no going back. Nothing about what had happened to her could be changed. Time no longer had a hold on her... but that wasn't the case for any of the others, and she suspected that the pain of their coming loss would be felt by her forever.

She chanced a subdued glance at her counterpart, wondering how he managed. Then again, he had spoken about this very subject a little, she remembered suddenly, before everything that had happened with Cepheus. He'd been deeply saddened by the matter, too.

 _We can be each other's comfort, then,_ she decided. _Because, when it's all said and done, we'll be the only two left standing._

Just then, she felt Loke take her hand and looked at him again, only to see understanding and compassion in his gaze. He squeezed her hand gently and raised it to his lips, pressing a tender kiss to the back of it in an attempt to comfort her. She blinked the threat of new tears away, and huddled closer to the man she loved, a smile when he wrapped an arm around her chasing some of the darkness from her gaze.

The small but intimate exchange was interrupted when several of their friends noticed and immediately started making approving noises. And though she blushed quite darkly, Lucy didn't attempt to move away from Loke, instead cuddling closer to him in defiance of her embarrassment at the attention. She wasn't ashamed of her new relationship with the lion – far from it, and she never wanted him to think she was.

Drowsy, warm, and just a little bit tipsy, Lucy leaned fully into her lover's embrace and just listened to all her nakama as they talked and laughed and got up to their usual antics. No matter how long they lived, she would always remember them – and more importantly, she'd always love them. It wasn't in her to do anything less.

But above all else, she would always love Loke, her brilliant, beautiful guiding light, and in the end, she couldn't say she regretted the way her life was turning out.

It was messy, imperfect, and painful, and sometimes even awkward, but it was more than worth it, all the same.

~LoLu~

A few days later - spirit world time - Loke decided to corner Seirei-o. He had a question for him, and this was the perfect opportunity to get an answer, as Lucy had kicked him out that morning because she had invited Aries and Cassiopeia over for a little get-together. For girls _only._

Since he wasn't going to be able to spend the entire day in bed with his princess, this matter would keep him busy for a while, as it wasn't always easy tracking the spirit king down.

And indeed, it had taken him a good bit of time to find his target. Normally it was rather annoying, having to waste time on a search, but as he was actually _trying_ to waste said time this go-round, he shrugged it all off with a smile. Besides, he had all sorts of the very best memories of his entire _life_ , memories of days spent exclusively wrapped up in his beloved – in her bed, in _her_ – to entertain himself with while he searched.

The king noted that fact as soon as Loke materialized in his presence.

"So, I see that you and Eridanae have spent much _quality time_ with each other."

Loke smirked. "Did you doubt that would happen?"

Seirei-o chuckled. "No, not at all. I'm surprised you held out as long as you did, as a matter of fact. But that begs the question of why you are _here,_ and not _there,_ with _her."_

"She kicked me out of the house this morning," he began with a small pout, then his face brightened and he laughed. "She's entertaining. Aries and Cassiopeia."

At that statement, Seirie-o nodded. "Ah. She is determined to befriend Cassiopeia, is she not? That is her way, and we are all lucky for it. But that still doesn't answer why you are _here._ Was there something you needed of me? I cannot imagine you hunted me down just to while away some time."

"You know me so well," Loke intoned with a small smile. "And you've gotten good at reading Lucy already, though she's only just become a spirit. How do you do that, anyway?"

"When she went through the joining, every part of her was opened to me as she made her vows. All the rest of you, birthed in the usual manner, were open to me in the same way."

That gave Loke the perfect lead-in to what he wished to ask, so he dove right in.

"Actually, a question about all of that is what brought me here. You explained to Lucy and I how spirits are normally... _born_ , for a lack of any other word for it. But if that's all true, then why would spirits even _need_ to be capable of procreating, like you intimated would happen with Leo Minor?"

The king chuckled again. "There does not always have to be a _need_ for something, Leo. Sometimes, all that is necessary is _want._ You and Eridanae will produce the first spirit to be born in a manner she would find normal, because you both will _want_ to."

Loke frowned as he thought about that. "So the reason I've never gotten any other woman pregnant is because I just didn't want to?"

"Exactly as you say." The king folded his arms across his mighty chest. "You wish to create new life with _Eridanae_ because you love her."

Loke blushed a little at the knowing expression on the king's face, but he answered readily, nonetheless. "I won't deny that... though maybe not quite yet. I want some time - time to just _be_ with her without distractions. I _need_ that, honestly. I'm still having trouble accepting that this is _real,_ and not some dream I've conjured up. I've loved her for a long time, but I also thought she loved someone else for most of that time. It's going to take a while before all of this settles in."

Seirei-o studied the lion thoughtfully for a few moments, and then said, "I am glad that I met Eridanae, especially when I did – she forced me to look at the _Law_ and take notice of things that were not right within it. Her actions gave me every justification to allow you to return to the heavens. She has done much for all of us in different ways, but above all else I am glad that in her, you've found that which you needed to be happy _._ You have been blessed in her, old friend – do not ever take that for granted."

The lion heard what the king was saying loud and clear. _Do not harm her, or you will regret it – in more ways than one._

"You have my word," Loke said solemnly, not surprised to be getting that warning from the spirit king, just as he'd gotten it from all their friends at the guild, and all their friends _here._ Even _Cepheus_ had warned him. It said something for her, that so many wished to protect her from harm.

The river of heaven had brought new life and hope to the spirit world, as the king had said she would... but to none more so than he. He had been alone for so long, had thought he was doomedto live that way eternally - until Lucy had burst into his life with all the warm effervescence of the brightest star in the heavens, and breathed warmth back into his cold, cold heart. He was not foolish enough to do _anything_ to ever endanger that. He needed her, and he would _always_ need her.

His musing was cut short when the king addressed him again. "Did you have need of me for anything else?"

Loke shook his head. "That was all I wanted. I was just curious."

"Then you should take your leave. I believe Eridanae's little get-together is over, and she's waiting for you. I'm sure you don't wish to disappoint her, old friend," the king chortled knowingly, as Loke's expression became suddenly eager.

"How right you are," he returned as he began to fade out of sight, to the giant spirit's amusement. "How very right you are."

 _I never want to disappoint her, my lady, my Lucy, my love. Never. I don't think I could stand the guilt, if I ever did._

~LoLu~

The years passed, as they were wont to do, and Leo and Lucy lived and loved to the fullest through it all. And though the losses they endured were indeed great, neither one, if asked, would have changed a thing. The pain was made bearable by the fact that they shared it, and would always have each other to lean on as they endured.

When they finally decided they were ready for an addition to their lives, many lifetimes had passed in the mortal realm, meaning that none of their nakama got the chance to meet the new addition to the heavens. But though their loved ones had moved on into the afterlife, it seemed that they weren't truly gone, because both proud parents were certain they had felt them as their son took his very first breaths.

The day the lad spoke his first words, the two began teaching him all of their names, and raised him on stories of their nakama and the guild, in that way ensuring that their legend lived on eternally.

And thus ends the tale of how Eridanus gained a spirit of its own, and how the ever-lonely lion finally found the mate of his soul. There would be other stories to come as they lived and loved and learned, to be sure, but those were for another day.

 _fin_


End file.
